The only time whispering bothers me is when I think they may be whispering about me. This has happened before. As for loud voices, I think my younger brother's hearing has been affected by too many years of listening to loud music and using loud power tools. Every time I'm with him he talks extremely loud, which he didn't use to do when he was younger. If your hearing abilities go down, you tend to raise your voice, so that you can hear it at the same level you used to hear it at. Unfortunately, this means blasting other people with a loud speaking volume. On the plus side, I'm not often with my younger brother, so I don't often have to put up with his loud volume. On the downside, I eventually want to see his house, and what he has done to fix it up. I also want to see his chickens & cat, so I will eventually have to put up with his loud voice for a while when I go see him. I honestly don't think he realizes that he is doing this.
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If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.--Henry David Thoreau