Alf Nelson's blog
Falling on deaf ears.
I should mention that I am deaf. I wear one hearing aid; I speak well; and I mainly lipread. For wrestling, I’d remove my hearing aid. So, if you are in discomfort during our bout, you tap me or the floor, and I’ll back off immediately.
You might be wondering what compelled me to write this missive. I have lost count the number of times a prospective opponent baulked at the mere mention of my deafness; he would either ‘disappear’ mid-conversation or even block me.
I am just a normal guy who happens to be unable to hear, and who happens to love the old pro wrestling. As the recommendations on my profile attest, I am a friendly and approachable guy with a strong health and safety background. My profile states that I am interested in roleplay (or non-competitive wrestling).
I am a frequent visitor to this site’s chat room. Sometimes, I leave this chat room intact in the background as I am using my laptop for something else. Sometimes, my hearing aid does not pick up the alert sound whenever I receive a message via the chat room; because of this, the sender would get the hump and block me afterwards. Sometimes, I do not respond to messages because I might be chatting or having a video call with a fellow wrestler. And sometimes, admittedly I don’t feel like responding but only if the message I receive is strange, offensive, or irrelevant. For examples:
a) “Do you like wrestling?”
b) “I am horny LOL”
c) “I think you might like wrestling.”
d) “I wanna shag you right now.”
e) “I want to apply chokeholds or bodyslams on you.”
I could go on and on.
It is not in my nature to offend or ignore, but I am simply not interested in having endless conversations with someone that lead to nowhere, nor am I prepared to waste time and energy dealing with rude messages, or pointless messages that have nothing to do with my wrestling needs whatsoever. I don't mind chatting endlessly with someone, but I am here to look for opponents or friends who share my great love of the old pro wrestling, especially Brit Pro (WoS). I probably have annoyed or offended a few on this site in the past; life is too short, so I hope we can let bygones be bygones, and that if we have similar wrestling needs, we can resume communicating and hopefully have a bout.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
bigt730 (12 )
10/08/2023 6:23 PMGreat blog! It raises awareness and makes others understand. Thanks for sharing
Wiccan76 (6 )
10/08/2023 6:36 PMHello !
I am glad that I am not the only deaf people on this website, although I practice boxing, not wrestling...
I have something in common with you (except from the deafness), that's the weird and/or rude messages !
But I don't understand why people fly away when deafness is mentioned... And I DO NOT agree with people who block dudes who speaks about their handicap !
Wrestling is easy to practice, boxing harder (I know...)
Courage !!
Dougbear58 (2)
10/08/2023 7:08 PM(In reply to this)
Awesome dude! I am deaf too.
Dougbear58 (2)
10/08/2023 7:07 PMHello Alf, Greetings from Orland, FL. Thanks for posting this. I can relate. I was born hard of hearing, but now I am deafened. Used to wear hearing aids, but now have two cochlear implant surgeries, so I can hear people. I speak well and also can lip read. At age 29, I began to learn sign language. Love to communicate with hearing men and deaf men. I too am into fitness and want to wrestle other men. I agree that tapping a deaf person two or three times is the best way to get his attention. Let’s be friends!
KOFistBoxer (1)
10/08/2023 9:12 PMI agree with the the need to occasionally ignore messages or the fact you possibly miss them when you are logged in and not looking at the chat, but I can assure you many act in the same way to those of us who are not deaf. Plenty rage quit when you don't immediately validate or gratify them in some way, and while I am not sure why hearing would play much a role in a text based chatroom, but also I wouldn't assume they always know you are deaf unless that is something you lead with. Some will just rage quit the entire conversation the minute things don't go their way.
Peter Hughes (58 )
10/09/2023 2:28 PMI have wrestled two guys on this site who were hearing-impaired, and I had no problem communicating with them or enjoying a good wrestling match with them. The people who freak out over your inconvenience - I refuse to call it a disability - are the ones who have the problem. I would enjoy the chance of grappling with you if we were in the same vicinity! Keep your head up and wrestle on!
Alf Nelson (13)
10/09/2023 2:35 PMI would like to thank those who have taken the trouble to reply. Their fantastic support is very much appreciated.
bobster (29)
10/09/2023 3:50 PMStick with it Alf!! Some people are just plain stupid or ignorant. The blog is right on point.
Wiccan76 (6 )
10/09/2023 5:15 PM(In reply to this)
GOOD COMMENT !! You're right !
LeatherWrestlerUS (1)
10/10/2023 10:46 AMAlf, thank you for posting your message/blog. It saddens me that some guys can be rude/ignorant/disrespectful in this group. Try to ignore them, probably easier said than done, I know. I sincerely believe most guys here are great supporters off or on the mats. Wishing you all the best!
mackemsub (109)
10/10/2023 4:34 PMyou post some interesting stuff and have great knowledge of not just the old WoS stuff but also vintage French and American wrestling.
Alan Kilby didnt let his deafness hold back a very long and successful wrestling career so if the World of Sport legends could wrestle him as an equal, theres no reason why people on here cant wrestle you.