Tissue Earplugs

Yesterday I went to visit and bring my grandma and grandpa their dinners. My grandma could not hear a thing because she had tiny pieces of tissue paper stuffed in her ears (just as she does when my mom gives her a bath), she said she didn't want bugs flying into them (they had a fruit fly infestation in their home). I walked in and sat by the couch near the side of her bed but she couldn't see me for the longest time and began to worry. I guess muted hearing can sometimes hinder your peripheral perception. Just last week we installed a fly trap that was made of a roll of sticky-- we hung it on the ceiling in hopes that we could rid the room of these small annoyances. The fleas are pretty much gone now (I saw them stuck to the sticky), but she continues to stuff her ears today. The only reason I can think of is because maybe she doesn't want them buzzing in her ears, but small fleas and fruit flies don't buzz like honey bees do in the summertime. I remember the day my mom first saw it she said my grandma had stuffed her ear holes as well as her shirt (at the neck) with tissue paper. She asked her what the reason was for all of this, and my grandma replied in the dramatic manner that she always does: "It is so that they don't fly inside because if they do, it will be the end of me" (a not so great translation of the canto phrase that literally means 'i'm going to die'). My mom, having heard this not just on several, but all occasions, knew just what to say. She told my grandma that if that was the case, then she should stuff all the holes in her face, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, everything with tissues to prevent any possibility of this from happening. That made my grandma cackle until her dentures dropped loose--she realized that she may have been just a little bit ridiculous. However, she still wears tissue stuffed ears today.