Earplugs

My dad is an earplug fanatic, in the sense that he buys huge boxes full of hundreds of pairs of earplugs. He uses them every night (so he doesn't have to hear himself snore, I think) and always offers them to others. I can't stand the things, but Travis took him up on it one night.

Now, Travis doesn't hear me at least half the time I talk to him (and then complains I don't talk enough), so I didn't find it too unusual at first that I had to repeat myself a lot over the next few days, but the issue came to a head when I asked him the same question several times, loudly, in the car. I resorted to poking him in the shoulder violently to get his attention, at which point he pulls earplugs from his ears and asks,

"Did you say something?"