and it’s driving me crazy. Everywhere I go, the volume is turned up to the max. In the trains (or subway, as my US friends refer to it) it’s an endless barrage of ear-piercing announcements about how the doors are closing or the train has stopped in the middle of the tracks because the train in front of us is too slow, or whatever. There are babies wailing–today, I heard two Caucasian children screaming their lungs out, one after another, in the Circle Line! On another bus ride, while I was on my way to work, this inconsiderate buttcheek did not realise his text message tone of a raspy, “Why so serious?” was irritating commuters. It range every five seconds, and soon, there were multiple messages being sent within seconds, so all I heard for a while was “Why so, why so wh-wh-wh-why so serious?”
It drove me nuts.
People talk too loudly in restaurants in cafes. I have listened to innumerable people bitch about work, and just today, I overheard a bunch of pretentious hipsters talk about their new co-working or wellness space that they were going to start up. To my right, there was this middle-aged man being grumpy and cynical about how he may be retrenched in the future, because of the economy, blah blah blah.
I can barely hear myself think on this island.
I am also not sure if it’s just me, but I am incredibly sensitive to loud noise. Maybe, people aren’t as affected by noise as me, but to me, it’s 10x louder to my ears. The only place where I can find solace is the library.
Even then, it’s not the most quiet place. The best thing happens when there is no one in my house except for my cat. Then, I have peace. I can do anything I want and there are no irritating sounds to interrupt me.
Featured image: daarwasik