Unpopular Opinion: Where Have All the Quiet Spaces Gone?
What I hear... and sometimes how I feel. I have been wanting to write about this topic for a long time, but struggled with how to do it. So I'm going to forgo the pretty words and just say it: when did people have to start apologizing for wanting other people to be quiet? Think about it: the quiet person hurts no one. He or she may as well not even exist because no one else is aware of his or her presence. The loud person hurts numerous people by imposing him/herself on other people's space, crowding out their thoughts with insistent noise or chatter. Yet the quiet person is the one who must say time and again: "I'm sorry, could you please keep it down?" I'm so sorry to have to impose myself on you. The loud person never pauses to consider whether his or her noise could be hurting someone else. The loud person just turns up that car stereo, or cranks up that leaf blower, or talks even louder into that cell phone, or plays the television loud