What am I talking about? People playing their music loudly through their phones on the bus, that's what.
Last night for example. There I was listening to my ipod at a normal level so nobody but myself could hear it, but once on the bus I had to turn it right up to drown out the sound of some tinny shitty r'n'b being played at volume through some inconsiderate moron's phone. I was listening to 'Everybody Here Wants You' by Jeff Buckley, a song of sublime beauty, of swooning melodies, of lyrical subtlety. And it was competiting in my earlobe with some distorted clanging grunting noise that I suppose was ostensibly about the same thing, except in that one the singer showed his appreciation for the 'hotness' of the woman by wanting to take her roughly right now. Simply enchanting.
In my fantasy, I will stand up and tell them in no uncertain terms to turn it down, they'll snarl and be abusive of course, but then everyone else on the bus will applaud me and we'll all unite against the noise polluters. Or in an alternative version, I'll travel London with a sack of cheap earphones, dispensing them to the offenders like some sort of music police Santa Claus and I'll become legendary.
Of course, in reality none of those things will happen. If I do say something, I'll probably get stabbed and my fellow passengers will ignore it, or (more likely still) I'll continue to suffer it in silence.
9 comments:
Do you read detective stories as well as watching them? Do you read crime thrillers? (which are what I write)
I do sometimes, although not that often. I wrote about the crime fiction I'd read on my detective blog a while back - http://wearedetectives.blogspot.com/2007/08/reading-detectives.html
They may, of course, be unaware they're doing it...Being slightly hard of hearing (it's me age you know) I used to have the volume pumped up a tad until a colleague, who happened to be on the bus one day, not only told me I'd been listening to Vaughan Williams but also made a dig about the lark ascending for a bloody long time...
It was only then that I realised how much sound modern earphones allow to escape through their venting...
Having said that, when I'm on the other end of it, it's only the strongly rhythmical drum'n'bass bits that really irritate me - I can mostly tune out the rest...
Out of interest, and as a transport pro I looked into the legal/moral situation and in theory at least your right to an undisturbed journey IS enshrined in PSV law...and a Google tonight shows the matter is debated very fully here:
http://www.hovis21.com/updates.html
now let me get back to my Te schee doum, Te sche doum, Schheeeee, boom boom boom....
No I don't mean the sound from other people's earphones - I mean people playing music out loud from their phones intentionally for the whole bus to hear.
HI Sanddancer, I've only just come across your detective blog site and I think its great.
I too fancy myself as a writer, well, thats a laugh really because I'm no where near being anything as good as real authors!!
I have written one story and as always I've murdered someone, in fact, my wife.
I like to play being the man you see!!
I was trying to get a link to you so you could read it, but I am so useless on this computer I can't do it!!
Will keep reading your site.
I love it.
I sooo feel your pain - this is my number gripe at the moment too.
I especially dislike people doing it on the train platform whilst we're all waiting for the train of a morning or when walking down the street alone - if you want to listen to music put your earphones in!
Me too, I find myself itching not only wanting to tell them to shut the &*%$ up and by some headphones, but also to enter into a tirade about why on earth they are listening to such awful rubbish. Sweeping generalisation but I've never heard anyone play anything I would chose to listen to in that way, so they must all be morons!
BTW it was great to meet you!
Annette - Do try to post a link. I've just a quick read of your blog anyway in the meantime.
NM & C&C - Glad I'm not the only one annoyed by it - perhaps soon we will rise up against it. And it is always rubbish music - you never hear a car blaring out stuff you like either.
Nice to meet you too C&C!
Oh it really gives me the rage. I don't know why they do it!!!
Post a Comment