I just...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

I just took my Dad to the Health Centre for his B12 injection.

A hundred yards down the road:

Dad: I've forgotten to put my hearing aid in.

Me (sotto voce): Well, I'll just talk to myself then.

Dad: Chuckles.

Which only goes to prove that he isn't deaf, he just listens when he wants to.

No no, when in a conversational exchange, with minimum background noise, he's directing his concentration on the expected reply. Like the hearing test in a quiet booth, you're expecting and straining to hear a tone. But something said out of the blue, especially with background din, is usually several words into the statement before he realizes it's directed at him and by then the gist of the statement is lost. Hence the, "what?" So it's selective but it's not his conscious selection.
The TV must be high because watching is not pleasurable if we have to concentrate so hard we're straining. Plus TV dialog varies greatly in volume, and saying, "What", to the TV is useless.

I know from whence I speak.