I鈥檓 a terrible sleeper. A runny toilet, a slight gust of wind, and my cat softly pawing around my apartment are just a short list of things that can wake me in the middle of the night. It鈥檚 always been that way. At some point in middle school, my dad gave me a pair of his unused earplugs, probably sick of me rousing听him听whenever I heard a bump late at night.听I took them to sleepovers, sports camps, and camping trips throughout my teenage years, tucking them into my eyeglasses case for safekeeping. (Yes, I was that cool kid who wore glasses and earplugs. I also had braces.)
The gifted earplugs were mostly effective, but听given that they were designed with construction workers and hunters in mind, they were too big for me. If I slept in the wrong position, I would be greeted with a throbbing earache in the morning. Or听one would pop out overnight, and I would wake听at 3 A.M.,听groggily patting听my pillow trying to find it. I learned to pack three earplugs instead of two, just for this scenario. Eventually, I stumbled upon听 (it doesn鈥檛 mince words, that Howard Leight). There, right on the packaging, was my solution: 鈥淪pecially Designed for Smaller Ear Canals.鈥 Made with softer materials than other brands, they were actually comfortable, and they rarely fell out, thanks to their compact size.听After years of twisting and contorting dense foam to fit into my ears, these earplugs were effortless. Now听they鈥檙e the only kind听that I order again and again.
These earplugs have a noise reduction rating of 30 decibels, which, admittedly, isn鈥檛 that much鈥 to a 鈥渜uiet rural area鈥濃攅ven though the box claims they block snoring. (Unfortunately, I can still hear my partner when he starts sawing logs.) But听most of the time they provide me with a continuous night鈥檚 sleep. After all these years, they鈥檝e听become a sort of security blanket for me, enveloping听me in a soft, muffled cocoon听at night, even when the world outside is anything but.