While I’m all for one’s freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness, I’m also for a re-examination of those rights when they negatively impinge on the similar pursuit of others, even more so when we’re talking a substantial multiple of others.
Yes, I was privy this morning to the musical, strike that, to the audible selection of another commuter who right behind me for the last 25 minutes of the commute drowned out much of my attempt to listen to NPR with massive tonal bursts from speakers quite possibly purchased from the FBI after use against the Branch Davidians.
Rattling around in my car, I understandibly began to ponder the possible non-violent (and other) solutions to one person’s theft of all proximal others’ choice of a tranquil environment. I’m not asking for that much, really. Have your fun up to but not exceeding the point at which you’ve violated the Golden Rule.
Legal - should ticketing the offenders be employed? I see a couple of problems, namely that they’re free to violate with the ease of a volume knob anytime a police officer isn’t around, which is pretty often. Also, because of the nature of low bass response it’s often difficult to tell exactly where the noise is coming from.
Tax - should powerful stereos or huge speakers carry a hefty tax? I’d imagine they’re pretty expensive to begin with and that doesn’t seem to be a deterrent. Shows I’ve seen suggest some who consider this a competition are quite happy spending more on their sound system than they did on the vehicle itself.
Education - can the point be communicated that we’re not impressed? That the offenders almost always have their windows down so as to more widely share/distribute the noise suggests that they might mistakenly feel otherwise.
Safety - their ability to hear a signaling car horn or ambulance or police siren has been to some degree compromised. This is done at their AND OUR peril.
Most of us love music and can engage in the pursuit of pleasure from it without annoying the everlovin’ crap out of others or putting them in harm’s way… and then there’s a few, inconsiderate attention whores who’s behaviour I’d love to see modified in (and to) some civilized fashion.
I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep it to a normal level the next time.
Seriously, I drive around with my music up WAY too loud. It doesn’t matter what I’m listening to, either. I have a premium stereo system with kick-ass speakers and a not-too-shabby subwoofer.
I turn down my radio when I’m in residential neighborhoods, especially if it’s in the evening. When I’m tooling around the city, though, my music’s turned up pretty darn loud.
As I’m getting way too old for this and as there are people out there with MUCH better car stereo systems than mine (I know this because every once in a while, some car will pull up next to mine and completely drown out my music), maybe it’s time I turn down the music.
I’m not trying to impress anyone, by the way, I just like my music loud and my car is the my bastion for obscenely loud music.
Build yourself a portable EMP that you can charge in your cigarette lighter. At a light shut off you car and and let it rip at the offender, assuming you know what car it is. End result - blissful silence- again, assuming you know what car the noise is coming from.
My solution is to pull over or slow down and let the car pass me. That solves the problem for me, and what do I care what they do to their own eardrums?
I think you get my drift, UrbanChic, in that I too can enjoy a fine stereo to it’s fullest but make considerate efforts to prevent others from turning and glaring at me because I’ve exceeded my space and have entered theirs. Residential neighborhoods? Excellent example, just like when surrounded on all sides at a light. When they’re out on a highway or open road I hope they enjoy it to their heart’s content.
Generally it’s the purple Honda Civic with the neon running lights and the flame paint job that looks like a prop from “3 Fast 3 Furious”.
Generally there are noise ordinances with heafty fines which is why I basically never see (hear) such systems outside of my fraternity parking lot or the Jersey Shore.
The amount of bass coming out is so far out of whack with what (I imagine) any producer/engineer/musician would really deem “consonant”.
I’m not going to tell anyone what sounds good to them, but I reeeeallllly find it hard to believe that everyone with these systems just happens to prefer such bass-heavy music.
At least, I find it much easier to believe that the intent is to impress.
Actually, my understanding is that the person in the car doesn’t even hear the really really deep frequencies because those wavelengths are longer than the car itself.
A friend of mine, now an MSEE, tells the story of he and a friend finding a 15" speaker and hooking it up to a signal generator. In their dorm. They turned the frequency down, down down until they couldn’t hear anything at all, they just watched the speaker flup-flupping in and out. Fascinated, they boosted the volume. Still inaudible.
Half a minute later, someone comes pounding on their door: “CUT IT OUT!!!” Someone a few rooms over was getting the shit kicked out of them from the “inaudible” bass.
Just as some restaurants are now able to disable cellphones, it is tempting to wish for technology which would disable the rolling boomboxes.
I think, however, that there are more important things to worry about. The few moments of annoyance when passing by a rolling boombox come to an end quickly. They are rude - but many other things people do can be considered rude. Part of living in society is accepting that others have tastes/opinions/preferences/behaviors that are not one’s cup of tea. Not liking those things is not a valid harm justifying government intervention.
Although I have a subwoofer, my bass is set just a wee bit higher than normal. Plus my subwoofer’s on the mealy side compared to those of people who are serious about their bass. Finally, the music you’re more than likely to hear blaring out of my speakers–modern hard rock, metal and classical music–doesn’t really have much bass.
In other words, if you pull up next to me and both of us have our windows rolled down, I’ll probably drown out whatever you’re listening to, but I won’t rattle your car.
In your opinion is any behavior justified no matter how it intrudes on the comfort of others?
We’re not talking about disliking hip hop. We’re talking about having personal spaces intruded upon by the noise someone else is making with no easy way of avoiding it.
I agree; in a way, we should be thankful that ignorant wankers make themselves so obvious and easy to avoid.
BTW, I’ve noticed an almost one-to-one correlation between excessively loud music (in both domestic and vehicular settings) and open windows; come rain, shine, sleet or hail, if you’re playing really loud music, you’re morally obliged to open your windows so that everybody outside can appreciate it too - isn’t that considerate? I didn’t think so either.
Absolutely not. But we must determine if the discomfort is material enough to warrant government interference. I dislike the scent of strong cologne - should the government regulate personal doses of scent - or should I just remove myself from the offending odor?
I used to live in a flat in San Francisco, behind which were the dumpsters of a neighboring apartment building. The garbage truck came by every morning at 4am to pick up the trash. The cable cars were quite noisy day in and day out. I could have gotten all worked up about it - but realized that one of the side effects of enjoying all of the benefits of an urban environment is also the constant awareness of the activities of others. That is just a trade-off. I view tolerating the travelling auditory assaults of other motorists as just one of the prices of sharing a public roadway. The few moments of noise are just not worth getting upset. If the boombox, however, parked in front of my home or business and disrupted by work or personal life, that would be a different matter.
We could make a distinction between transitory discomfort and one which intrudes into one’s personal space - ie, a boombox driving by vs. an upstairs neighbor’s stereo.
No kidding, squeegee? Interesting that what is so annoying on an aesthetic level is at the same time fascinating on a scientific one. Maybe that’s the solution, making illegal for use in cars speakers that produce frequencies below a certain level since they by their very nature provide no benefit to it’s inhabitants. Wonderwench, my 20 plus minutes could hardly have been characterized as either a “few moments” or “passing”, nor would it likely be unique. Frankly, I wouldn’t consider simple, rational steps that serve to lessen the possibility of road rage or increase the level of public safety to be a “valid harm” against society either.
I find it really hard to believe it interferes with your happiness so much that you want legislation regarding how loud people can play their stereos in their cars.
Pass them, let them pass you, turn, wait until they turn, etc. And get over it. The last thing we need are more laws, especially about something as ridiculous as this.
Maybe you should try rockin’ out every once in a while instead of NPR. I’m not suggesting you give up NPR, only that you let yourself enjoy the sounds of music that is meant to be played loudly.
I suggest Motorhead, Monster Magnet, or Queens of the Stone Age to get you started.
And don’t mind me, I’ll be passing you so fast you won’t even hear it.
