Short Stories

A LITTLE PINEAPPLE ATE MY HEARING AID By Bob Kaster

I am writing this in Hawaii, on the island of Maui. My connection here goes back a long way, to my parents having bought some property on the island back in the 60’s.

Sunset Jan. 29 2025 – Bob Kaster

Other than the magnificent beach, the Humpback whales, the mostly great weather (except for the occasional hurricane), and the beautiful sunsets, being on the island isn’t too different from being on the mainland. But it has its quirks.

Yesterday my day was disrupted because a little pineapple ate my hearing aid.

My hearing aids are typical. Each one has two components: There is the piece that fits behind the ear and contains the battery and microphone. Connected to that by a thin wire is the other piece that contains the speaker and fits inside the ear. My hearing aids are rechargeable and sit overnight in a charger on the nightstand. Yesterday morning when I started to place them into my ears, I realized the left one was missing its speaker. The wire had been snipped off. I searched for it on the floor and even checked to make sure it wasn’t still in my ear. I finally located it, or what was left of it, inside a drawer in the nightstand. It was in tiny pieces, as if it had been chewed up. Then I discovered the small pineapple droppings in the drawer.

Pineapple droppings?

Well, the Maui chamber of commerce and the tourism industry don’t like to talk about things like mice. Or rats, or cockroaches, or termites, or bedbugs. When they do have to talk about such things, they don’t mention them by name, preferring to call the mice and rats “pineapples.” The bedbugs are called “ladybugs.” It does sound better, doesn’t it?

Yes, the Hawaiian Islands do have such critters, probably brought here when Captain James Cook first landed in 1778 or when the first Americans started arriving in the 1820’s. So, it’s probably our fault. It’s an annoyance; not too serious, but something that the local people must keep ahead of.

The good news for me is that I have backup hearing aids; but they aren’t rechargeable, and require batteries. I was smart enough to bring the backups, but of course forgot to bring the specialized batteries. The further good news is that they had them at Long’s Drug, about a five-minute drive. I got the last ones they had in stock.

So, there you have it. My perilous Hawaiian travel story. Daunting as it was, I still love Maui, and looking forward to our next visit, even if I have to fight off the vicious pineapples and ladybugs.


Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*