Ask A Genius 1372: Navigating Aging and Communication: Respect, Hearing Loss, and Marital Tension
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/05/14
Rick Rosner is an accomplished television writer with credits on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Crank Yankers, and The Man Show. Over his career, he has earned multiple Writers Guild Award nominations—winning one—and an Emmy nomination. Rosner holds a broad academic background, graduating with the equivalent of eight majors. Based in Los Angeles, he continues to write and develop ideas while spending time with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
Rick Rosner discusses a tense moment with Rosner’s wife, sparked by a heated exchange over his hearing loss. Rosner reflects on aging, communication breakdowns, and feeling disrespected. He emphasizes the need to address recurring issues while resisting being defined or demeaned by the challenges of aging.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: And that-that’s enough to—it’s questionable enough to escalate the situation. But when your wife yelled at you not to, it was enough to stop me long enough for the guy to walk out of the place.
And yes, Carole insulted me. I told her there are better ways to express that you’re afraid I’ll get hurt than saying, “He’ll break you like a stick.”
Rick Rosner: That’s a good line.
Jacobsen: It is a good line. It’s funny. It is not very kind, but it’s a good line. Still, I just got annoyed. She’s already getting frustrated with me over my hearing loss.
So I said, “If you’re going to make fun of me or get snippy with me about every little age-related thing as it comes up, then eventually it’s elder abuse.” And this felt like it was in the same vein. I don’t yell at her about her aging issues. I don’t insult her.
That’s when she just said, “Get over it,” that was enough to set me off even further.
Jacobsen: So you two had a whole thing?
Rosner: Yeah. She said, “Fine, I won’t talk to you anymore.” She got frustrated, and I got frustrated.
But I have to call this kind of thing out when it happens. I let some stuff go, but there’s a calculation: if it will continue to be a problem or escalate, I feel like I have to speak up. This hearing thing—it’s already been an issue. She says she’s frustrated that I haven’t received a hearing aid yet.
But here’s the deal: getting a hearing aid might help a little. I don’t think it’s going to fix everything. And instead of being snippy, she could talk louder, or maybe talk to me from the same room, not yell from another room where she can’t even see what else might interfere with my hearing.
So instead of giving me crap, maybe acknowledge I might have some hearing loss and deal with it—by speaking, from the same room, louder if needed.
I don’t want to be that guy—the little wheezy old guy getting shit from his wife for every little stumble or quirk of aging. That’s not me. Not yet.
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