Bert feared his wife Peg wasn't hearing well and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there was a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss. "Here's what you do" said the doctor. "Stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone ask her a question and see if she answers you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response." That evening the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he is in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?" There is no response. So the husband moves about 30 feet from his wife and asks, "Peg, what's for dinner?" Still no answer. Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?" Again he gets no answer. So he walks up to the kitchen door about 10 feet away. 'Honey, what's for dinner?" he asks, Yet again, no response. So he walks right up behind her and says "Peg, what's for dinner?" (I just love this.) "For God’s sake Bert, for the fifth time, we're having chicken".
