Contributed by:

• Angelique N Wahlstedt at 3 Nov 1994.
• John Campbell at 3 Nov 1994.

We all know how some people eventually become Deaf if they hang around in deaf communities long enough. But occasionally, if a deaf person hangs around too long in the hearing world, he becomes an Hearing (with a captial H) person.

Here are warning signs to tell if you've become Hearing:

1. You actually laugh at sound puns.
2. When someone asks you where you come from, you no longer assume that he was asking which school you went to.
3. You buy a stereo system without feeling silly.
4. You actually dance at a party instead of talking non-stop for hours.
5. You spell by sound rather than sight. For example, you quit misspelling the word "ridiculous" as "ricidilous" and start misspelling it as "rediculous".
6. You no longer look directly into a person's eyes when you talk to him... your eyes drift all over the place just like a hearing person.
7. You talk in your sleep with your voice instead of your hands.
8. Know slang?
9. You can communicate well in public without resorting to writing?
10. Sit in the back of class?
11. Eat with your mouth close?
12. Hear fart?