Noise can be really troubling. We all know that a lot of sound can really upset us and there is not a whole lot one can do about it. Of course, each of us contributes to the noise around us. We know, for example, what a lawn mower in the wrong hands can do to raise the decibel level.
As I write this, there is a lawn mower at work that may well be raising the dead. Unfortunately, we are all guilty of making noise. The Chartocks have a rather large yard and the grass has to be cut almost every week. I should be the last person to complain about noise.
There are several kinds of noise. One such noise is generated when people argue. If you are in a neighborhood where the houses are close together, you might just feel like part of the family next door. If people are arguing, they might as well be in the next room. Same thing goes for sex.
Once there was a psychiatrist living next door to us on Fire Island. My brother and I fought so much that one day there was a knock on the door and the shrink told my mother that he would be happy to intervene. My mother, who had her own doctorate, was not receptive to the offer.
There are some sounds that you really can’t do anything about. For example, there is a small airport in Great Barrington that generates a lot of noise. I used to take the kids there to watch the planes taking off and landing. Naturally, some of the folks who live around our little—and I do mean little—airport would rather not have it there. I have often wondered why people who complain about the noise chose to live near an airport. Back on Fire Island, some of the really ritzy folks used to take sea planes from the East River to get to the Island. I think I remember that at some point, rules were put in place that made that difficult. Of course, the more money you have, the more possible such expenditures are.
Part of the noise pollution problem involves people. My mother got quite upset when a couple moved in across the street from their house and would start to play bongo drums around midnight. Once when I was visiting them, I took part in correcting that situation. Let’s just say that I am not particularly proud of how I did so, but the noise stopped. In fact, every time I have thought that maybe we should have a summer house on Fire Island, it is the potential noise proximity situation that makes me say, “Nah.”
You can’t pick your neighbors and part of the noise risk involves who is located in your immediate vicinity. There are sounds we like, and those we don’t. I have a neighbor who has learned the good sound of the postal delivery truck. Some sounds are quite disturbing. When a car is being broken into in New York and its alarm goes off, one gets a rather unpleasant sensation. When your car is parked on the street, it is not unreasonable that you will experience a sense of personal alarm.
The sound of an approaching subway train can really be upsetting. The next-door neighbor’s barking dog can be equally troubling. A baby crying in the next apartment can drive one to distraction. And you can only imagine the terror felt by people who are living in a war zone. I have often marveled at how people living in London when the Nazis were attacking dealt with the noise they experienced.
So noise can be good or bad. We lived in an apartment on 96th Street in New York where the crosstown bus shifted gears. To this day, I think that’s one reason why I have trouble sleeping.
