• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Family Hearing and Balance Center

Family Hearing and Balance Center

Doctors of Audiology

  • Family & Cardinal Main Page
  • Contact our Audiologists
  • Meet Our Audiologists
  • Hearing Aid Videos
  • Hearing Aid Labs
    • Jabra Enhance Plus – Over The Counter Hearing Aids
    • Resound
    • Oticon
    • Signia
    • Widex
    • Noise & Swim Plugs
    • Phonak
    • Unitron
    • Starkey
    • Audiograms Explained
  • Tinnitus
    • Tinnitus affects quality of life
    • Counseling Tinnitus and Misophonia
    • Levo
    • Resound
    • Widex Zen
    • Neuromonics
    • OasisPro
  • Balance Testing
  • Cochlear Implant Mapping
  • CaptionCall Phone
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Misunderstandings Can Be “Taxing”

I had my taxes done this week. I did ok. The taxing part (see what I did there?) was each one of us had our masks on. As we should. An acrylic divider sat in the middle of the desk as protection. As it should, and we were yelling at each other to communicate.

At the end, she told me that I did well and made a final statement that I found odd. She either said I owed PITA, or asked would I donate to PITA. I repeated it and she thought I was repeating the question she asked, so she nodded “yes.”

I stated I didn’t want to donate this year and that turned her head, and the look in her eyes was telling me that we had a misunderstanding. She repeated my address. I told her that it was correct. She pulled down her mask and stated that I owed RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency) for the city I lived in.

We both had a good laugh. Words can be close like PITA and RITA, and it might be a fit to the conversation you are having. Us folks with a hearing loss are trying to put the puzzle together. Sometimes, we put the puzzle together, and sometimes it’s a piece from a whole other board. Keep talking until we catch up.

Written by:
Dale Hansen
Published on:
March 18, 2021
Thoughts:
7 Comments

Categories: Community Outreach, Educational, MiscellaneousTags: family hearing and balance center.cardinal hearing centers, Hearing Aids

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tiffany

    March 18, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    I’ve almost forgotten what a normal, unmuffled voice sounds like.

    Log in to Reply
    • Richard Reikowski

      March 23, 2021 at 8:41 am

      I can agree with that.

      Log in to Reply
  2. Gail Reagan

    March 18, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    Good play on words and good story!

    Log in to Reply
    • Richard Reikowski

      March 23, 2021 at 8:41 am

      It sure was Gail. Agree!

      Log in to Reply
  3. Marie

    March 19, 2021 at 7:52 am

    Good stuff.

    Log in to Reply
    • Richard Reikowski

      March 23, 2021 at 8:41 am

      Yes, it was.

      Log in to Reply
  4. Richard Reikowski

    March 22, 2021 at 7:03 am

    Good one Dale! You’re right, PITA and RITA are very similar. Hearing can be made much better when we can look and see people as they talk, without masks. Right?!

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Explore more

Previous Blogs

Footer

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign up to receive an email every time we post a new blog!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Contact Us

Akron  330-644-1932

Northfield  330-468-4288

Log in

  • No Surprise Act
  • Diversity Statement*Privacy Policy