Do you know the high pitched sound a radio makes when it's not quite tuned to a station? The high pitched noise that, in its annoyance, takes you directly to the source to twiddle the knobs?
Well here's the bad news. If you don't protect your ears, you'll have that sound in your ears all the time, and with an auto control that turns the volume up when you're stressed and when you're in a quiet place, and at nights when you are trying to go to sleep.
The condition is called tinnitus. There is no cure. The good news, it's preventable!
Please, you younger indestructable blokes, wear hearing protection, and more importantly, particularly the older members, make sure you have the right equipment to allow that little guy, who loves to help grandpa, to safely work in your shop.
I used to think that eye damage would be terrible, "if I was blind I could not check out the girls!" Having tinnitus is worse. A bit like standing in a cesspool up to your chin and hoping no one makes waves.
Glenn