Yup, I agree that it's all in HOW you broach this issue; there's a lotta things in life that are unfair and this issue is one of them so best to develop the skill to minimize the hurtfulness some of you mentioned.
I have a recent example; I was at the checkstand the other day at Lowe's in Oregon where we are vacationing, yakking with my in-laws when the cashier said something to me and I said, "I'm sorry what was that? I forgot to mention I'm hard of hearing." She replied, jokingly, "Oh, that's alright, all men are hard-of-hearing". We all cracked up over that one! Then I craned
my neck around and pointed to my hearing aid, saying, "Well, ma'am, I assure you this isn't a radio". She said, "Ohhhhh" and we all had another laugh at that.....and away we went, with no one feeling bad.