This morning my brother in law was desperately trying to get the top off the milk carton. After a while he handed it to me, defeated. I opened it. We looked out of the window and saw my neighbour, who drinks like a fish and smokes, lift a washing machine out of his car and carry it into his house.
My father could play the piano. Not an unusual skill but he was deaf. He lost his hearing fighting in the army in India in the 30s so he was an adult when he lost it and therefore remembered tunes, even though he couldn't hear him. However he didn't have the skill to learn anything new so either you liked the old music or you didn't. He used to say that he played by ear and then would roar with laughter. He would have struggled in many ways with modern living but most of all during the pandemic, he would have lost his ability to communicate as he always lip read. There must be thousands of people like him today who still rely on reading lips to understand, in fact all of us do it to some extent, so please be patient if someone is struggling to communicate while you are wearing a mask. I went to the supermarket today and at the check out, the cashier asked me to move the trolley into a particular position. As I manoeuvred it ...
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