Peace at last

Gallery

Posted on by

This week I read an article in the AARP magazine about noise in a restaurant. That is a pet peeve of mine. I hate when I have to shout to be heard and quite frankly, with my hearing, I really have to shout and listen intently.

Restaurant owners equate noise with energy and youth and excitement. A lot of background music and those damn high ceilings are supposed to add to the ambience. (I wonder if they read the articles on who has the disposable income these days…)

Blah! Of course seniors hate it. Anyone over 40 hates it. There comes a time when a lot of noise does not equate to high energy. It equates to headaches and hearing issues. It’s exhausting to strain to hear stories. Ok, so the stories are about aches and pains (probably tinnitus) but still…..

I avoid high noise restaurants. When I eat with friends I like to talk with them. Even when it’s just the beloved husband and me, I don’t want to be assaulted by noise.

Today there is a football game that the beloved husband wanted to watch. Unfortunately for his team, they weren’t doing so well so he decided to go out for a bike ride. The weather is wonderful and there won’t be a lot of days like this left.

I didn’t understand the impact until he left.

Here I sit in profound silence loving every minute. Football games, even when watched on the TV, are loud and raucous. Perhaps the volume is up too high for me. Then of course there is the yelling and screaming (that’s in the room not on the TV). It reminded me of this cartoon.

No credits given

Anonymous — No credits given

30 thoughts on “Peace at last”

  1. Pingback: 13 Unpolished Gems . . . One Stone | Spirit Lights The Way

  3. My friends and I have been known to politely ask a server to turn down their audio system when the music is so loud you can’t even begin to have a decent conversation. Good points made, Kate.

    Like

  4. Funny post (I hate noise too) and very funny cartoon! Can’t tell you how often I stop and listen to the quiet whether I’m inside or outside. Ah, the sound of silence without music!

    Like

  5. We are on the same page, Kate. Recently we sat several tables away from a group of five, and they were all texting others and reading aloud the texts to everyone at their table…and we got to share it all! I saw on the news the new trend to “break” the constant texting/cell calls habit. When a group goes out to eat, they all put their cell phones in the center of the table. The first one who reads a text or answers a call has to pick up the entire bill for the meal!!!

    Like

  6. Oh I am so with you on this, but of course, I’m over 40! I didn’t like noise at 39 1/2 either. Maybe the young need noise since they spend so much silence texting. The only noises I truly enjoy are the wind, the surf, birds singing in the morning, and the sound of rain at bedtime.

    Like

  7. Loving that cartoon! But should I admit that I was screaming at the TV watching football tonight–and startled all my little furballs? They ran from the room but it’s for the best-I don’t want them to see the massacre of Washington v. Dallas. Sigh.

    Like

    • Did you have some nice wine to take the edge off? My husband uses bad words when he watches the Philadelphia Eagles but yesterday they came through for him. I keep telling him it’s good to take a bike ride in the middle of the game!

      Like

  8. With you all the way, this old fogy asks them to turn the music down. And when there;s no upholstery, no curtains, no carpet to muffle the noise, it’s deafening….
    Love the cartoon !!!

    Like

  9. There are stores (Abercrombie comes to mind) that intentionally play music that they hope will scare away unwanted customers (read: older folks). I avoid those stores, too. I do have tinnitus, so I stay away from noisy places. We decided not to dine at a restaurant for just that reason as we also love to talk AND listen to one another.

    Like

    • I think they have poor lighting too. Not gonna shop there! The only place they should tinker around with is the dressing room. They need those mirrors that make you look gorgeous. Is there such a thing?

      Like

  12. I have a hard time hearing in quiet places so noisy ones are a bear. There are two places here that have the most wonderful food but I cannot hear anything except garbled noise. I just sit and eat and nod.

    Like

  13. I punched the LIKE button like 5x . . . but it didn’t change to WILD APPLAUSE!

    That cartoon is hysterical . . . and your comments about restaurant noise (and fans in the cheering section noise) are spot on!

    I love peace and quiet and silence and . . . cooking shows (that aren’t too heavy handed with the orange zest!). 😛

    Like

  14. Oh, my–we just had a LONG ordeal today, trying to figure out where in the world we can go to eat AND carry on a conversation with a dear friend who, we just learned this morning, is 30 miles away from here, on business from Dallas (total surprise–he had no idea we were so close to Connecticut–people from Texas just cannot fathom how tiny New England is). This is IMPORTANT–he’s our dear friend and we haven’t seen him for 9 years.

    This noisy-restaurant-equals-hip-vibe lie, is such a huge pet peeve of mine. Why is this happening? Why don’t we–the holders of the disposable income–stage a huge, collective, and noisy rebellion against this nonsense?

    Like

    • I’m with you! We even have a very upscale steak place ($$$$) locally. When it’s full, it’s unbearable. I know they can change that with proper sound insulation. I don’t mind noisy bars because that’s well…what a bar is. But a nice restaurant?

      Like

  15. Ha ha ha ha! So true. The older I get, the more sensitive I am to noise — other people’s, of course.

    In my kitchen, the tunes are cranked while I cook .. my kitchen, my rules.

    🙂 MJ

    Like

Comments are closed.