[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

I'm this person. I have a few rules - I never have a phone conversation on public transport (bus, train, etc) and if it's a long conversation or overly personal I'll tell them I'll call them back when I'm in a private room.

But I'll answer quick calls like "can you grab bread on your way home?" or "I'm on my way, but I'm running late" on speaker in public.

I have reverse slope hearing loss, and I'm a very forgetful person who always leaves their seventeen pairs of headphones somewhere that isn't on my person.

I can't hear phone conversations properly without putting the phone directly in front of me so both ears are listening.

It's gotten better with VoIP because the method of compression is different to the old copper lines - I can't hear shit over analogue, as a teenager I used to use relay services because I couldn't hear male voices over phone. But some people's phone service is still really badly compressed, I'm on a tight budget so unfortunately I can't afford a quality service, or a flagship smartphone that let's me pitch adjust incoming calls.

I can't afford hearing aids for RSHL (they're not standard) so in the meantime I answer the phone on speaker and hold it in front of my face. (unless I have my headphones and can plug both in)

I try not to shout at my phone, but half the time it's my deaf mother calling me and we just end up shouting at each other over the phone, or it's one of the students calling me, I teach conversational English for migrants and IT for seniors, so there's a huge language or hearing barrier and my stupid little monkey brain thinks speaking louder will help even though I know it won't.