From conversations with others in my age group (50’s) I’m assuming this is common. I’ve noticed that I (and my cohorts) seem to be changing our haunts, habits, and hobbies partly from a desire for peace and quiet.
I realize it’s normal for us to seek less stressful/active forms of entertainment as we age, for obvious reasons. But I find myself getting less and less tolerant of noisy people and venues.
My question is why?
Is it just that we’re turning into old curmudgeons?
Is there some larger reason old folk’s hearing (or perception) reacts negatively to loud noise?
Or maybe I’m the lone ranger here, and it isn’t as widespread as I thought?
To the older dopers: Do you find yourself disliking noise as time passes?
A few examples (tldr, I know):
Celebrating the 4th, I found myself in a boating raft-up at the local lake’s party cove. Although surrounded by winsome young gals frolicking in tiny bikinis, all I could think of was that I wished they’d turn down the damned music. If it hadn’t been for my teen kids, I’d have pulled up anchor and left.
A week ago, our daughter had a “talk” with us as she was worried about our social life etc. When pressed, I had to admit I hadn’t been to a movie in over a decade, as I don’t like the loud volume, or the disruptive behavior of the audience.
Daughter also pointed out the change in hobbies/vacations. Our last trip consisted of finding an obscure camping area in the mountains, then using our 4WD to offroad to some old ghost towns. She pointed out that only old people would try to find a town with no inhabitants (so it would be quiet).
I’m guessing it’s because you put up with so much noise in your younger years (up until about the age you are now), and you’ve just grown tired of noise/noisy areas from a lifetime of being exposed to them.
I mentioned it to my ear doctor, and he said that certain sounds would be louder as I aged and started losing my hearing. I can’t explain it, but it made sense as he explained it. Anyway, he said it was common.
I can’t take movie previews. I’m the person with her fingers in her ears while the previews blare out.
I’m also 46 and I still regularly crank my metal (thrash, death & otherwise) to 11. I still play guitar at skullcrushing volume. My bass amp can rattle dishes 4 blocks over. I also like to watch movies with the volume loud enough that explosions sound like, ya know, actual explosions. And, I just bought a drum kit!
In other words, not everyone experiences the same phenomenon as the OP.
I have always been intolerant of excess noise. When I was a child our home was generally very quiet except for necessary things like vacuum cleaners. TV/Radio was only for active attention, not background, and kept only as loud as necessary.
I still retain excellent hearing at my advanced age.
I do this too and have for years, at least since I was in my 20s. I’m an early curmudgeon, I guess. I’ve taken to bringing ear plugs with me to movies so I can be comfortable during the previews.
Just the other day I’m sitting in the living room reading. My son comes in there with a bag of corn chips, plops himself down on the couch and starts munching away as he mindlessly stares at the ceiling.
I think I lasted all of 2 minutes before I told him to take that shit to his room.
Ever have a room full of 5 year olds? The boys are running around yelling constantly, and periodically one of the girls will let out one of those awful skull-piercing blood-curdling screams like she is being stabbed to death.
This doesn’t seem to bother them one bit, but it really annoys just about anyone over the age of 15.
I’ve never liked noise. I grew up in the country*, where the loudest thing we’d hear is a sheep truck going by, or the occasional thunderstorm.
Since moving to bigger and louder locations it’s just become more unpleasant. I’m happy that I currently live in a sleepy suburb away from the hustle and bustle where it’s genuinely peaceful for most of every day.
Here’s my take on it. (I’m 59 and I’ve had hearing aids for about 2 years now.) As my hearing ability lessened, I had to do more active listening of what was being said and the sounds around me, as opposed to just passively taking it all in. When you are intent on something, anything that interrupts or distracts (such as noise) can be a considerable irritation. You lose focus and have to readjust your senses. This way leads to cantankerous crankdom. I’m less cranky now that I have my hearing aids and can passively hear again, so the kids can come back and play on my lawn again.
I can refrain from going to a rock concert.
Shooting the driver of the car beside me or the neighbor is frowned on. Can’t get away from them either.
::: grump ::::: for many years now.
This was my guess as well. Hearing loss is often more noticeable in noisy environments because it becomes more difficult to separate the conversation you are listening to from the background noise. SO mild hearing loss that wouldn’t otherwise be noticeable to you might be causing you to find loud background noise frustratingly intrusive.
When I was young, I wanted to be excited and thrilled when I was involved in recreational activities. Otherwise, I didn’t really want to do them. Now, I want to relax when involved in recreational activities. If it involves going through a lot of tension and BS to do something, I probably don’t want to do it.
Noise and crowds seem to go hand and hand with exciting and thrilling, while quiet goes hand in hand with relaxation.
I have also done almost everything once, so I am not inclined to put up with noisy crowds and venues to enjoy them. I would rather do something else. I have been to dozens of concerts, dozens of festivals, hundreds of loud bars, etc. Those things really don’t excite or relax me anymore.
However, occasionally, I am presented with something that I haven’t done. I got the chance to go to my first Formula One event last year and despite the incredible hassle of getting to the venue, the crowds, and the noise, I took my wife and kids and had a great time. Don’t know if I am going to try again!
Yeah, I posted in this thread already, but I’d like to add:
I’m younger than many people in this thread, and I don’t like noise on public transit, so much so that I usually wear earplugs (and even then, some noise still bothers me.)
