Sometimes, the conversation has to end. Sometimes, you can take the conversation to a quieter place and continue. Ambient noise can reduce the brain's ability to tolerate the conversation.

A challenging issue is cell phone conversations. Too many people use their cell phones as a speaker phone that grabs far too much ambient sound for a PCS brain to process. Or, there is just lousy transmission quality. Using a head set can help with telephone call, especially cell phone calls. The worst calls tend to be were both ends of the call are using a wireless system, either cell to cell or cell to cordless landline phone.

Remember a simple concept. We can usually only do one auditory thing at a time. We can try to understand garbled words or we can try to understand a sentence. We struggle to understand a sentence of garbled words. Garbled words can be poor transmission quality, thick accents, and such.

My broadband provider likes to route tech support calls to the Philippines. I call it talking to Sponge Bob Square Pants at the bottom of the sea. The voices sound like they are bubbling up from under water with a Filipino accent on top. I ask for a US based agent and wait.

Once we observe and learn the specifics of our struggles, we can moderate them and do much better.