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