I think some of that kind of thing is a "spousal" issue. My wife (of 45 years) has (I think) good hearing, but she frequently fails to hear me. I get the feeling that she hears me but her head hears "Oh - that's just Jim talking". Sort of a passive dismissal thing. Or maybe it is just old people who are unable to deal more than one thought at at time.

But the same thing in reverse - I can't hear her in the usual situations like when she is in a different room, or facing the wall, or washing dishes etc. I have given up asking her not to do that because it just causes trouble. Sometimes when she says something that I didn't hear and I ask her to repeat she replies "Oh, I was talking to myself" or "I was talking to the dog". - Maybe the dog was talking to her and I just didn't hear it. Who knows?