so this is going to sound like it builds up to an ad (it does not) but one of my major fears about one day becoming a parent was my sensitivity to sound. as someone who keeps the fan at a lower speed because it's too noisy at full speed during what has been declared a heatwave week in my district, i had serious reservations about my capacity to keep my shit together when my kid is crying or yelling or in any other way being noisy, as children invariably are.
and well. i saw this advert for earplugs which had a quiz to find out the right earplug for you. and it asked you, hey what is the kind of noise cancellation you're looking at. and the entire parenting thing was an option. like "i want to hear enough to know what's going on but while protecting my eardrums" or smth to that effect was an option.
and the sheer relief that washed through me. that. earplugs. reusable earplugs that don't noise cancel to the extent of cutting you off from the world exists. because honestly absolute quietness is not smth i can afford in my daily life. i have roads to cross lmao. but !! even though these earplugs are hella expensive, one day i will gift thwm to meself (cause i'm the only person other than my psychiatrist who recognizes that I'm autistic). i will save up and i will reduce my misery. one day.
and i say this as someone who routinely uses their earphones as earplugs by just not playing any music. it is...a good makeshift but it drains battery and sometimes i click it accidentally and it starts playing smth or opens up google assistant(god assistant is SUCH a nuisance) and also just. it cancels so much that i speak in a whisper and the people around me get exasperated because my sound processing is completely thrown off and yes.
i have spent the last hour staring longingly at earplugs on the internet and I can't say i have any regrets i want it rlly badly.
