I’ve Had Trouble Hearing. Then I Tried New Glasses.

Earlier this year, my left ear, previously every bit as capable as my right, started letting me down. I at first had many explanations for this — a buildup of ear wax, some side effect of a sinus infection or a prolonged reaction to a lot of flying recently. It took a specialist to break it to me that I had joined the ranks of 1.25 billion people in the world who suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss.

Why it has happened is still unclear. To eliminate one possibility, the doctor gave me a prescription and told me to come back in two weeks. In the meantime, he suggested I try to avoid loud noises. As I emerged onto Park Avenue, that seemed like cruel joke. The only way to truly avoid noise in New York, clearly, is to go a bit deaf.