Things You Hear Everyday
By Mr.e

As I sit here tapping away at my keyboard, the most noticeable and annoying sound is the humming of this computer (if I’m not totally immersed in what I am working on). It’s loud enough to make be a bit edgy during those quiet moments when I’m lost in thought or when I’ve lost that train of thought.

What follows is a brief description of the noises heard throughout a normal day, give or take a few unusual sounds and events. Only when I took the time to dissect the sounds I hear every day did I realize that we do suffer from noise pollution.
The radio/CD player in the dinning room is employed for the better part of most days.

Believe it or not, the noise that our aged fridge emits is truly frightening. Late at night it seems that the fridge on the other side of the kitchen work hard sending my computer secret but garbled messages. Or it really is on its last legs and suffers from super high blood pressure and is working too hard. In which case I’ll be treated to a new sound when it finally goes kaput.

The throbbing baselines of some cutting edge techno music pound through the backyard fence from across the alley behind me. Teenage hormones and musical enthusiasm make for interesting if not easy listening.

A person on the balcony of the second floor of the adjacent apartment is engaged in a heated discussion on the dread cell phone, on which everyone seems to have to speak a little more loudly. I can almost make out every word on this end.

The permanent thick rumbling noise above the clouds tells me that passenger jets are arriving at and departing from the nearby international airport. Underneath all that, a few floatplanes and helicopters hack up the airwaves with their unmistakable thwacking and thudding sounds.

My immediate neighbors have decided to mow their lawns and two lawnmowers are screaming in unison while the guy with the gas powered leaf blower squints through the dust billowing around him.

The guy downstairs has decided to build something with a hammer and is banging away to his hearts content.

A train horn unexpectedly blares through this afternoon’s usual cacophony. The little princess upstairs decides to go walkabout with her dress up high heels on the hardwood floor (this place isn’t insulated very well). In the basement the washing machine shudders under the strain of yet another large load. That clunking noise is getting louder.

The phone rings suddenly and the always unexpected fax screech stabs at my already sensitive eardrums. A dog starts to bark somewhere out as another siren wails by the boulevard.
The doorknocker slams into it’s mark and the sound reverberates through the house, sending the cats scurrying.

Outside the noise of traffic is steady during rush hour and city sounds waft by. Two fire engines with sirens blaring roar into this quiet residential street and come to a hissing stop a few houses up. The diesel engines keep up a steady drone after the sirens are muted. Neighborhood kids shout and yell as they converge on the scene.

A car doors slams shut. A car horn is sounded impatiently as the frustrated driver realizes he won’t get out of his parking spot until the fire truck leaves.

Another heated cell phone discussion ensues.

I close the door on the pandemonium and retreat to my desk and this noisy machine and its clangorous suitor across the kitchen.
I give up. I’ve got a pounding headache and my sensitive ears are ringing. I envision a quiet a still mountain lake and am transported to that tranquil place … until the sound of an un-muffled four by four rumbles up the alley way behind me.

The levels of noise pollution we are subjected to every day seem to rise steadily. I suggest that you eliminate the sounds you can control and try to protect your hearing wherever possible. It might make a difference to your sanity and save a bit of your hearing as well.