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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: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 27 2017, @12:33AM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday December 27 2017, @12:33AM (#614515) Journal

    Brew your own coffee at home or in the office, take it with you in a leak-proof travel mug. Then you don't need to go to the coffee shop and hear their music. If you must buy coffee there, take it in a paper cup and go sit in a place called, "outside." There are parks with benches for that purpose. If you absolutely must buy coffee in that shop and drink it on their premises, then buy ear plugs or noise-cancelling headphones you can play your own music on or white noise to drown out what they're playing.

    I am not unsympathetic to unwanted music and TVs playing in public places. It can be obnoxious. We do however have options.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @02:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27 2017, @02:17AM (#614554)

    What's the outside temperature in NYC right now?

    Brew your own coffee

    It seems so obvious.
    The cost of 2 trips to the coffee shop should pay for a thermos.
    ...and the stuff should still be hot for your afternoon break.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]