As a person with hearing loss, I am glad I read this. If you've followed the comments here, you know that many people can't afford the kind of hearing aids that will really help them, and the cheap ones just amplify sound and won't help at all while having lunch out, since the background noises will increase also and your voice won't be more distinct. Even expensive ones (like mine) don't help that much in these situations.
I think it would be helpful to your friends to ask them what you can do to help them hear you better. - if you are willing to be part of the solution. I have told my husband many times that he needs to speak more distinctly, a little more slowly, and a little louder. For some reason it's hard for him to do this. He also persists in speaking to me when he's facing away and over loud background noises, without raising his voice. Five years after he first pointed out my hearing loss, he has finally realized that he uses an extra soft voice when talking to me, when he needs to use the same voice and way of speaking that he would use in a group or when making a presentation - because I can hear him fine if he does that.
It can be hard to raise your voice without sounding like you're shouting, but it can be done with some practice. Your comments (and you're hardly alone or atypical) made me think about our expectations of people with different abilities. I don't expect friends in wheelchairs to meet me in places with lots of stairs - we choose places that are accessible. That's an adaptation I make to have them as friends. But with the hearing impaired, there seems to be lot of anger on both sides It's hard to talk about, but it can be done.