Baby Boomer Ears: A Nation of Noise
Are we baby boomers getting crankier? Or just more discriminating? BoomerCafé co-founder and publisher David Henderson is wondering, why is society today so deafening?
I don’t know about you but as a baby boomer, I wonder whether America has become a noisier place, a louder society, or, is it just my age and maturity that makes it seem noisier? I find that it is difficult to escape intentionally created noise in public places.
While filling my car with gasoline at a Shell station recently, country music and advertisements for candy bars blared from loudspeakers just four feet away.
Restaurants seem to crank up the volume of music intentionally, so we will ot talk but yell at each other, creating an environment of faux excitement in an otherwise ordinary eating place.
A friend told me the other day about a wedding he had just attended. Just about the only moment of quiet — the only moment — was when the groom kissed the bride. After that the reception started and there was a DJ who was either playing music or congratulating the couple or telling jokes or introducing speakers but through it all, the wedding guests were precluded from talking because the noise in the room was too loud to hear themselves speak.
And ballparks? When we were kids, their ambience was calm. The only time the decibels shot up was when someone hit the ball out of the park or carried it across the goal line. Now, between announcers and music and contests and commercials, the only time it gets quiet is when the team
leaves town.
While departing from Miami airport’s new terminal J, nervous-sounding alto sax music … like Kenny G on speed … was playing so loudly throughout the terminal that normal conversation was difficult. I thought to myself, what a superb terminal it might be if it were quiet.
While flying recently to and from Munich, Germany, I noticed striking differences between the international airport at Munich and my home international airport, Dulles, outside Washington, DC. It reminded me of the contrasts that existed when flying between western world capitals and backwater third-world countries some years ago.
The Munich airport is one of the most modern and convenient in the world but what I noticed most was the lack of noise. The airport is actually quiet and peaceful and a joy to visit. Even the airport’s web site says, accurately, it is “Calm and Relaxed.” There’s no mindless elevator music, no blaring announcements over the public address system … the place is quiet, and that makes such a positive difference for weary travelers.
Dulles airport, by contrast, is a cacophony of noise, racket, and chaos. That same alto sax elevator music screams nonstop throughout the terminal … people loudly shout announcements over the PA system … television monitors blare advertisements for everything from CNN to local tourism attractions. On top of that, Dulles has been under perpetual construction for one thing or another since God invented dirt. The place is a mess.
But my point is that we in America seem to celebrate creating noise. Have you been in a Best Buy recently? The racket is deafening, and drives me to the best and fastest departure possible.
We in America have become the brunt of international jokes because we are so loud. Films, such as “In Bruges,” poke fun at loud American tourists.
I read somewhere that when you get a little older, your hearing is more challenged to distinguish between sounds in loud environments. Yup, I’ve noticed that. But it is the noise we create in our public places that I find so … unnecessary. What’s wrong with quiet?
About the Author: Since the summer of 1999, BoomerCafé™ has been an online creative writing gathering place for baby boomers with active lifestyles and youthful spirits.
Beverly Mahone | Sep 2, 2008 | Reply
They may explain why my parents always talked so loud. I never understood it then but now that I’m in my 50s, I notice my daughter telling me the same thing, “You’re talking too loud!”
But in order to be heard these days, you have to. I’m just glad I’m not talkin’ loud and saying nothin’
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Barney | Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
Last week I used a low-cost airline to fly from London to Rome. (This airline, by the way, may have the cheapest fares going, but everything is extra - I had to pay to use the check-in desks and I had to pay to have my bag put in the hold; I refused to pay another five of our wonderful British pounds to go into the “priority boarding” queue.)
As I was putting my cabin baggage in the overhead locker and settling into my seat, I noticed that there was a continuous loop of adverts playing over the aircraft’s PA system at a level of volume that was seriously intrusive.
Once we were in the air, there were announcements in English and Italian approximately every ten minutes throughout the flight. We were encouraged to buy scratch cards, bus tickets, food, duty-free, shares in companies that make hearing aids (not really). And immediately we had landed, the PA system blared out a fanfare and the voice of the airline’s CEO saying something like, “Yet another R***Air flight arrives on time.” (Actually we were five minutes late, but who cared? We were counting the minutes until we could get out of this squawkbox of an airplane.
Now, I’m a boomer and I’m old enough to count for some purposes as a “senior citizen” in Great Britain. I do find it difficult to distinguish sounds in noisy environments. But that’s NOT the issue. I object to being forced to listen to “music” (music?) and commercials and unnecessary announcements in places where I cannot escape these intrusions. In human rights terms, I’m sure one could argue the case for such treatment being “cruel and inhuman punishment” or some such.
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