[INTRO: PENCIL WRITING]
[POKEMON GAME SOUND]
Hello!
As you can see, I’m not alone today.
Who is with me?
Who are you?!
JESSICA: I’m Jessica Flores.
RIKKI: You might know her.
She’s also a deaf YouTuber.
Very funny.
You have to watch her channel.
Okay, I have a question for you.
Since you’re deaf, how did you drive here?
JESSICA: I don’t know!
RIKKI: My mind is blown.
JESSICA: It’s all magic.
RIKKI: Oh, wait! She has a video about this!
You have a video on this topic.
Go watch that, okay?
Anyway, there’s a reason we’re here together.
Today, we’re going to be discussing sounds we do and don’t miss.
So deaf people, we will get comments from people saying that they couldn’t,
wouldn’t want to be deaf because how could they listen to music,
birds chirping, water/ocean waves, whatever else.
This video isn’t going to be about discussing “important” sounds in life,
but regularly “everyday” things in our lives that we may or may not, will not miss.
Nothing like emergency things, well, maybe,
if they really scare you and you hate them.
You know what? Whatever.
We’ll just keep this going.
Because you are my guest, you start.
JESSICA: So, it’s hard for me to say what sounds- it’s [sign], right?
RIKKI: Yeah, [sign].
JESSICA: -I miss because I don’t really remember-
RIKKI: Right, you can’t miss what you never knew,
JESSICA: Yes. RIKKI: Never had, never heard.
JESSICA: That is true. But I have a lot of sounds that I don’t miss.
RIKKI: I can imagine. This wind…
JESSICA: So, I have hearing aids. If I put them in…
So, I have hearing aids and there’s a lot of sounds I really don’t like.
RIKKI: And you live in a very busy city: San Francisco.
JESSICA: Yeah, so, I think I’d be discussing more about what sounds I don’t miss.
RIKKI: That’s completely fine.
JESSICA: Something I would miss, uhm…
RIKKI: Maybe it’s something you’ll miss in the future or presently, whatever.
It doesn’t matter.
JESSICA: True, because my hearing has been deteriorating for years.
Something I miss would be my family’s catchphrases.
RIKKI: Like jokes and stuff.
JESSICA: My family are really funny people.
They have a saying- My grandma, for example,
she would say, “YAHOOOOOOOOO!”
RIKKI: Someone here is gonna be like, “WTF was that?”
JESSICA: And I feel like I would miss that, you know?
But I’m happy that I’ve heard it before.
I accept that if I can’t hear it at all in the future.
I don’t miss crows. They sound…
RIKKI: Like nails on a chalkboard. JESSICA: Yes!
RIKKI: That’s the next one. JESSICA: Yes!
JESSICA: I have that. But crows’ screeching sounds like- RIKKI: It’s very loud.
JESSICA: Yeah, but they sound like they’re being choked to death.
It’s really scary! I don’t like it!
RIKKI: I miss cat meows.
Currently, I can hear my boy cat, Zane, a little bit.
He has a deeper voice which I hear better, his meows and growls.
But he has to be close, I have to be holding him.
I can’t hear him if he’s way over there on the floor.
JESSICA: She’s gonna have to hold her cat right up to her ear.
RIKKI: But my girl cat, Libby, I can’t really hear her as her voice is more high pitched.
If I hold her, she has to be so close-
JESSICA: That’s the cat. RIKKI: Yes, this is the cat. Just pretend.
If she’s this close and she meows, I can hear it, but that’s a lot of work.
And then she’s very angry.
She’s like, “Put me down! I don’t want to be held!”
I don’t miss… well, this is going to be depressing,
but if you know, if you watch my videos, I grew up with a lot of abuse.
So a lot of- I can’t spell this word even in English-
physical and verbal abuse, so I still hear a little of it, depending
but most of the time, I don’t, so I’m kind of wishing that
[the rest of] my hearing would just go away completely.
This ear has almost nothing and this one only has a little bit.
So I’m waiting for that ‘cos I don’t want to hear that anymore.
There’s a lot of PTSD with that.
So I don’t and wouldn’t miss that.
JESSICA: That’s a good one.
RIKKI: Future things said here will be a little happier, I promise.
JESSICA: Something I miss would be laughter.
Especially from my younger sister.
Like, my youngest sister.
She has a very cute laugh.
Something else I don’t miss would be…
RIKKI: The nails on a chalkboard.
JESSICA: Yeah. RIKKI: I don’t know the sign for that.
JESSICA: Yeah. That hurts my ears so much.
If my hearing aids are out, it’s fine, but if they’re in, it’s horrible.
It hurts!
RIKKI: I probably wouldn’t hear that.
I don’t think I would.
JESSICA: It sounds awful.
RIKKI: I can imagine.
I mean, I’ve heard it when watching movies and shows with earphones in,
but I don’t think I’ve heard it in real life.
JESSICA: I think I’ve only heard it while wearing hearing aids.
Ah, you don’t want to hear that noise. It’s awful.
RIKKI: Now, we have more technology so we don’t have to worry about that.
JESSICA: Yes! I don’t know why that sound exists.
It’s time to go.
End chalkboards now!
Your turn.
RIKKI: Really, I think that was the only sound I’d really miss, but sometimes music.
Now hold on!
JESSICA: Hold it! Stop right there! Wait a minute.
RIKKI: A little while ago, I made a video about this topic,
on other ways that deaf people listen to music,
but when it comes to listening to it the “normal” way,
there are a few singers I would probably miss.
Like my favourite singers’ voices.
For example, two: Brian Joo-
JESSICA: I’ve never heard of him.
RIKKI: KPOP, or more R&B.
And then a Taiwanese singer named Aaron Yan.
There are some other songs I’d miss.
But I’m not focused on listening to music right now.
I still listen to it sometimes.
A long time ago, I was listening to it everyday, all the time.
But now, I’m just like, “Eh. Okay.”
It’s not a serious thing, but for now.
Something I don’t miss. Uhm…
JESSICA: What is it?!
RIKKI: I’m in my house all the time.
I don’t remember sounds.
What are those?!
Alarms. I can’t quite get the sign for that.
My alarm is one of those you put under the bed.
JESSICA: The vibrations are frightening.
RIKKI: I have it on silent so that it’s only vibrations.
But sometimes when you turn it off, it makes a noise very similar to the nails on a chalkboard.
I hate it. It’s scary and I hate it.
Every time I turn it off and I hear it for even one second, I’m like, “NO!”
JESSICA: “No! Stop that!” RIKKI: Okay, no, it’s not that serious.
But I hate it.
I wait for the day that I never have to hear it again.
That’s the only high pitched noise I can hear.
I don’t think it’s the same sound as a carbon monoxide alarm or a kitchen timer.
I don’t think it’s the same kind of sound.
JESSICA: I’m the same.
There’s not a lot of sounds I would miss that would be like, “Oh, poor me!”
because I feel like I’ve learned to adapt and accept who I am, being deaf.
RIKKI: A lot that I do now is just being by myself.
I think the only-
maybe the third thing I miss is when I’m traveling to YouTube events, all, eh, not all.
Okay. Most of my YouTube friends are hearing, but pretty much all the friends at these events are hearing.
There’s no other deaf creator there.
There needs to be!
JESSICA: There needs to be! RIKKI: We’re working on that.
JESSICA: It’s time.
RIKKI: We have disabled creators at these events, but I’m the only deaf one.
I mean, yes, please invite me.
I want to go, but you come with me!
Take us both.
Sometimes, if I’m going to VidCon, my LA friends, even the hearing ones,
some of them sign, so that’s fine.
But if I’m going to DC or Florida for Playlist, nobody signs.
Well, DC, yes, but not at the event, so I end up feeling pretty lonely.
If there’s a party, I need to be drunk, I don’t really care.
JESSICA: It’s hard.
RIKKI: If we’re sitting and having a chill dinner and everyone’s having a conversation,
sometimes, I miss being able to understand it even though
I don’t really remember being able to understand a lot to begin with.
Normally, I can sort of hear the conversation, but I can’t understand it.
It depends on the person.
JESSICA: Yeah, I feel the same.
I feel like I miss really connecting with other people.
Now, it’s really hard to really connect with people because they don’t know ASL
or they’re always moving their heads when talking.
RIKKI: Like you’re both sitting here and then the other just looks off into the other direction.
JESSICA: WHY?!
But yeah. I don’t know if I ever really understood group conversations.
RIKKI: Sometimes, I get bits and pieces.
I don’t want to make a whole conversation about this right now,
but if I put in earphones and learn a YouTuber’s voice,
it can be a little easier sometimes, but that’s a whole video for later.
JESSICA: It’s weird that it’s easier to understand someone when you spend time with them.
RIKKI: And you learn, sometimes their voice, but- yeah.
JESSICA: Lip reading is easier if you know the person.
RIKKI: Well, that’s all I have to say on this topic.
If you have any sounds that you miss or don’t miss, leave a comment below.
JESSICA: We want to know.
RIKKI: Create a discussion.
There will be a video on her channel.
The link will be somewhere around here.
So go subscribe to Jessica and we’ll see you later.
BOTH: Bye!