Everything comes with a price – or does it? What about noise?
Fees is a buzzword today. Tolls on bridges, eco fees on bottles and cans, carbon fees emptying your wallets at the fuel pumps, fees on electronics, paints… you name it, the list is never-ending.
But nothing on noise.
Your neighbours crank up their lawn mowers, power washers, chain saws, power saws, weed whackers, and leaf blowers, but no one seems to complain. It’s just the Joneses beautifying their green space. We all do it, but that doesn’t make it right. Doors slamming all hours of the day… doesn’t anyone know how not to make noise?
If I crank up my music, someone is offended and calls the cops. Why is this different from the masses making their Garden of Edens beautiful with all types of noise?
Trains waiting to go, diesels humming, then the engineer gets the green light and look out, it’s mayhem – he’s on the horn to alert the crossings and anyone within a 10-mile radius at four in the morning that the monster is off. It’s like they fell asleep on the horn button.
I could go on and on, but do you get my drift?
A deaf girl knocked at my door selling deaf education system cards with signing symbols to support her college education. This is when the light went on for me and I had to make my point to the masses, if anyone can hear.
What price do we put on noise? Don’t I have the right to silence once in awhile? This is one of the five senses that never turns off.
I have tinnitus, better known as ringing in the ear. Many things can cause it, but the majority of the symptoms come from exposure over time to loud noise. Isn’t my hearing important enough to warrant peace and quiet?
Planes, trains, automobiles and especially humans are all noise polluters. Maybe we should tax noise or have an incentive to not make noise.
Why not credits for being quiet? We’ve all heard of eating healthy, so what about hearing healthy?
“Hear’s” a thought, to end my rant: Create an International Noise Awareness Day. Or even Month.
Put your noisy machines away for just a moment or three and listen to my words. What’s that you say? I can’t hear you…
Danny Rasmussen
Cloverdale
