Being Blind And Deaf

A few of my gals have the habit of placing their faces close to the table whenever they write and I always have to remind them not to 'kiss the table'. They are already wearing spectacles so much thicker than mine though they are so much younger than me. I would always remind them to take good care of their eyes as they would need them for years, if not decades, to come. Imagine, at 11, 12 years old they are already wearing glasses thicker than most adults, what would happen to their eye sight by the time they reach my age? One of the gals said that she didn't mind being blind as then she wouldn't have to see those people she hated. She might have said that in jest but somehow I was quite disturbed by it.

Another disturbing trend that I noticed is that teenagers love to listen to their MP3 player (or any other kind of players for that matter) at full blast. Once while travelling on the train, I could make out the song being played on the MP3 player of a student though I was sitting across from him. I wondered if he was really that deaf that he needed to turn the volume so loud that it sounded as if he was using external speakers. Isn't such portable device meant to be private and non-disturbing?

Sometimes, I just don't understand why would people who are born with healthy eyes and ears would want to do things that will cause them to lose the use of these previous and yet fragile organs. There isn't anything wrong in loving to read or staring at the square box or even enjoying loud music but it's definitely not being fair to abuse the very organs that have brought us so many colours and wonderful sounds into our life. Imagine enjoying all these wonderful things but only to lose the ability to see and hear just when you are at your prime or when you needed them most. Though we won't die when our eyes fail us or when we become hard of hearing, life would definitely not be the same again. The quality of life will be changed for good. For people who are born blind or deaf, they would have no problem adapting to their conditions since they never have the chance to see or hear anything. But for those who are fortunate to be seeing and hearing since young, they would face much difficulties in trying to get use to a dark soundless world.

Our eyes and ears are meant to last as long as our stay on earth, why then would anybody want to shorten the life span of these organs for the sake of some short term thrills like: spending hours playing online games or listening to heavy metal music? We can only have the use of these organs only once and once they deteriorate, it would be quite impossible (well maybe with the advancement in technology it's possible) to restore them to their original state again. Thus, my advice to all those who have been abusing and taking your eyes and ears for granted to consider making a change in your habit so that your eyes and ears will not suffer a premature death. (I understand that our organs will age with us but we wouldn't want these organs to be due for replacement well before their expiry date.)

Would you prefer to be able to witness the birth of your first grandchild and to listen to his/her singing the birthday song on your 60th birthday or would you be happy just to feel the tenderness of the baby's skin and the vibration of the air? Think about it and think about how well have you been taking care of your eyes and ears and the rest of your organs, for that matter.

"We will only miss the water when the well runs dry."

"To be born blind is God's will but to have it and lose it, it's man's making."

"Take great care of your organs and they will deprive you of bodily problems."