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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday December 26 2017, @04:07PM   Printer-friendly
from the quiet-please dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

It was a bright, frigid morning in Ann Arbor, Michigan, two weeks before the University of Michigan let out for winter break, and the college town's numerous coffee shops were abuzz with the gentle tapping of keyboards, the whooshing of espresso machines, the occasional chatter—and the tinny strains of 1980s and '90s pop hits.

It's that last element of the sonic landscape that drives Gina Choe and Libby Hunter crazy. Standing just inside a cavernous cafe where The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" competed with a sizzling griddle, jostling coffee cups, and echoing voices, Choe said, "I came in here once, and [the music] was everywhere around me. Everyone was talking more loudly—I couldn't even hear my friend."

As Choe checked a decibel meter on her phone ("65, the level of loud conversation"), Hunter mentioned that the last time she was here, she had asked a counter worker if the music could be turned off. "The manager came over to my table, and she was really nice, but she said no, because of the 'atmosphere.' It's amazing how afraid they are to not have music."

Hunter, a retired middle-school music teacher, and Choe, a 2017 Michigan graduate who is working in a research lab while she prepares to apply to medical school, do not travel in the same circles, and might never have met at all had they not come together over a mutual love of quiet spaces—and a loathing for piped-in background music.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by SomeGuy on Tuesday December 26 2017, @06:37PM (15 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Tuesday December 26 2017, @06:37PM (#614373)

    There is nothing quite as blood-boiling as being stuck in the middle of shopping at Publix just before Crassmas when they start playing some religious music. Some child-raping shit singing that everyone is supposed to worship their imaginary god. Even putting aside the fact that there is NO SUCH THING AS GOD, there are plenty of people in this world who don't believe exactly the same thing the same way.

    "Publix: Where shopping is a pleasure for rich white people who believe in Teh One Tru Gerd derrrr"

    Somewhere in an outsourced hovel in India someone strings together what music should be piped in: "Hey, I have an idea, let's play Frosty the Freaking Snowman again because it wasn't good enough the first 9000 trillions times we played it!" "Oh, and this Never Gonna Give You Up sounds like a good one to play next".

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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @06:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @06:39PM (#614375)

    May God bless you

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:02PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:02PM (#614384)

    I swapped the tape in the on hold music from Pat Boone to Twisted Sister.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:29PM (#614394)

      Why choose? You could have used this [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:03PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:03PM (#614385)

    I doubt people worship frosty the snowman as a god. Are you a future archeologist overinterpreting trinkets?

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:29PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:29PM (#614422)

      Yes, I am from 2000 years in the future trying to unravel some mysteries. From the ancient sacred book of Walmart, it states that "Frosty" Olaf the snowman came to life to battle the evil anti-consumerism Jesus. But in the battle he killed Kenny and became a bastard. Who exactly was this Kenny? I probably need to go back another 20 years or so. The events where Olaf is sadly defeated by Jesus and Venkman crossing the streams and melting his face off should be happening any day now. When that is done I will step another 20 years in to the future and witness Princess Celestia and Optimums Prime bringing the Ultimate Peace to the Earth.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:04PM (#614386)

    We are so very sorry that we didn't post a trigger warning. It was nothing but neglect on Staff's part. Our data mining software indicates exactly how sensitive you are to Christmas music, but we failed to take proper notices. Please open your CD ROM tray, and find a handful of Prozac. Take them with our blessings. And, merry Christmas you miserable fuck.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:14PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:14PM (#614406)

    You seem to be lumping all religion together. There is a difference though, with "child-raping shit" being legit in exactly one mainstream religion: the one founded by a guy who married a 6-year-old and then placed his penis between her thighs regularly until, at age 9, he managed to have sex with her.

    I'm an atheist, but damn it, I acknowledge that Christianity is the bedrock of western civilization. Buddhism isn't half bad; there are functional cultures in eastern Asia that don't involve killing infidels and raping children. Without a mild religion dominating society, our society is vulnerable to acquiring a horrible religion. Most atheists, myself excluded, make no significant effort to oppose horrible religions. If anything, they enable such religions by putting most effort toward opposing popular mild religions like Christianity.

    Basically, it's a matter of a power vacuum. If you get rid of religion, a new one will spread like wildfire. That is a foolish gamble to take when the current religion is mostly harmless.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:32PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:32PM (#614424) Journal

      This AC's ideas need to be published in all the atheist's publications. Maybe we can get him some talking time at the universities as well.

      That old saying, "nature abhors a vacuum" is bullshit, because there's a helluva lot of vacuum in this universe. But mankind certainly abhors a vacuum. Leaders are gonna lead, whether they are fit or not. And, followers are gonna follow, no matter how unfit the leaders are.

    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:50PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:50PM (#614505) Journal

      Most atheists, myself excluded, make no significant effort to oppose horrible religions. If anything, they enable such religions by putting most effort toward opposing popular mild religions like Christianity.

      What? As someone who would be considered athiest I honestly believe all organized religion has a purpose but that purpose has been corrupted time and time again by power hungry psychopaths. I prefer that we treat all religion as horrible and work towards getting civilization to abandon it. And that's only possible by improving quality of life for as many people as possible through advanced technological means.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:40AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:40AM (#614542)

      I'm an atheist, but damn it, I acknowledge that Christianity is the bedrock of western civilization.

      The bedrock? They did a whole lot of nothing for thousands of years (even actively hindering progress and intellectuals) and then things started changing rapidly, and of course this is all because of Christianity and has nothing to do with other factors. I seriously don't understand people - especially atheists - who overstate the accomplishments of religion, to the point where religion is given credit for some advancement even though there is no evidence it was the cause.

      Most atheists, myself excluded, make no significant effort to oppose horrible religions.

      Where's your evidence of this? What counts as "significant effort"? Do you think that where the atheist lives might influence what religion they might choose to oppose the most? Do you really expect atheists to try to fight horrible religions that mainly exist on other continents rather than focusing on problems in their own countries? I guarantee you that the average Christian does not make much of an effort to oppose horrible religions either.

      Have you considered being a guest on Fox News?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:41AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:41AM (#614543)

      Christianity is the bedrock of western civilization

      Actually, the foundation of all civilization is superstition nonsense.
      The latest installment of The Jimmy Dore Show traces Christmas and Santa Claus from an ancient pagan holiday to the modern conglomeration of myths and commercial nonsense.
      ~35 percent of a 14 MB MP3 -- 05:45 - 19:00 [kpfk.org]
      (A holiday timeslot substitution for Eric Mann's activist program.)
      Available until late February.
      If you don't grab the file by then, Jimmy's show is available elsewhere as a webcast.

      Text versions:
      How Did We Get From A Turkish Bishop To A Guy In A Red Suit & Flying Reindeer(Santa Claus) [penguinpetes.com]
      The Anti-Catholic Evolution Of Saint Nicholas Into Santa Claus [alternet.org]

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:33PM (2 children)

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:33PM (#614494) Journal

    True story:
    Many years ago, before my tenure, our facilities manager thought it would be a great idea to play christmas music over the loud speakers. So they hooked a radio tuner to the PA amp and mixed in the christmas music. Well, the only thing our senior engineer hateed more than the beatles is christmas music. After only half a day he looses it, grabbed a set of dykes, a ladder, and cut every fuckin speaker wire on the shop floor AND ripped the speaker out of his office ceiling. Since he was senior and cranked out work orders making big money, no one said one peep to him. They fixed the speakers and never put music on ever again preferring to pretend it never happened. I cheered him when he first told me that story at the first christmas party I attended. I still laugh about that every year when I first hear christmas music and bring that story up with him which he proudly owns and retells.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:55AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @01:55AM (#614548)

      Did they have a license to do that?
      ASCAP/BMI gets pissed if you don't pay them.

      Years ago, after dance class, a group of us would go to a local coffee shop.
      The place was a local hole in the wall startup.
      They played recorded background music.

      One week, we came in and the recorded music was off.
      Instead, they had a live music act performing their own compositions
      That pattern continued from then on.
      Pretty sure that was because of licensing.

      Fiddlers Crossing in Tehachapi, CA (a folkie music venue) is a place I know of which specifies that all acts must perform their own compositions or traditional tunes; nothing that is still under copyright by someone else is allowed.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday December 27 2017, @03:22AM

        by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday December 27 2017, @03:22AM (#614582) Journal

        Yea, they used a local radio station as music on hold when I first got there. Got them to switch to Muzak for hold music and then they had a service make a custom recorded voice over talking about the company with prerecorded music. Looks like a little car stereo amp with a thumb drive plugged into it and a stereo set of rca jacks.