So, I had an interesting experience today. I went to get some gas with my four year old in my backseat. And some dude was blasting rap music from his car. You could hear his speakers rattle, it was that loud. There is nothing more obnoxious than forcing your music on others at high volume. Now, normally, I would try to ignore it. But then I thought, 'Am I just going to take this? This is my country too.' And then I got angry. I thought, 'You wanna play your music loud? Fine. I can do that too.' So I opened my door and blasted WCPE the Classical Station. I set the dial to eleven and just went about my business. I couldn't match his bass, but I took over the upper registers until I could barely hear his music at all. I'm sure no one else could either. I was a little scared because I was clearly trying to be kryptonite to his noise pollution. I was obviously sticking it to him. If the dude wanted to start something, I'd have a serious problem. Fortunately, he took the hint and turned his music off completely. I was much relieved when I turned down mine in response. Before he drove off, he looked to me and didn't nod. Neither did I. That
was the end of a very tense moment. And the music that cleared the air? Rachmaninoff's Caprice Bohemien, Opus 12. Gonna go buy me copy just because.
And to clarify my position here, I would be angry if someone were blasting classical music, or any music, forcing it on others. I would be angry if it were Al Franken or Rush Limbaugh they were blasting. Doesn't matter what; it matters how loud. I said it's my country too because I got the impression that the dude didn't think I had the right to enjoy my own piece of mind. I could have ignored him and scurried out of there quickly, but then I would have felt like a second class citizen, sacrificing my right to happiness to his obnoxious behavior. If it were his country and not mine, meaning if he had full rights and I only dhimmi status, then yes that's what I would have to do or be punished. So it's more than maintaining a soundscape, and it has nothing to do with what I like or don't like. It's about my (and everyone's) right to have a reasonable amount of peace in a public place. That's what the dude was intruding upon, thoughtlessly or not.
