Austrian man fined for yodelling while Muslim neighbors prayed

[Some_God]

Austrian man convicted for yodelling while Muslim neighbours prayed
An Austrian man has been fined for yodelling while mowing his lawn because it caused offence to his Muslim neighbours.

Alex Hall in Berlin 5:46PM GMT 16 Dec 2010

Helmut Griese, 63, was found guilty of "ridiculing" their religious beliefs and fined nearly £700 by a court in Graz. Rather than face a protracted court case, with all its attendant legal costs, Mr Griese agreed to pay.

The court heard how the Muslim family regarded Mr Griese as a "grumpy old man" whose open-air Alpine chanting was intended as a taunt aimed at their religion. The retiree was accused trying to "mock and imitate" the call of the Muezzin, who calls the faithful for prayer in mosques. They alleged that he always began his yodelling just as they knelt down to pray.

Mr Griese, however, told the Austrian newspaper Kornen that "it was not my intention to imitate or insult them. I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood."

The court heard how things came to a head late in the summer when Griese was both mowing his lawn and yodelling as the Muslim family were praying. Police were called, and he was served with a summons.

Mr Griese was charged the "disparagement of religious symbols" - an offence usually used to prosecute for neo-Nazis who desecrate Jewish graves - and hindering religious practice.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/820...yodelling-while-Muslim-neighbours-prayed.html

What is this I dont even...

 

[CptStern]

so the law applied to non nazis. what's the problem here? oh I see they're muslim

 

[Krynn72]

What is this I dont even...

Its a stupid law punishing a stupid person for offending stupid people.

 

[ríomhaire]

*ignore*

 

[blackout]

I personally feel he should've been fined just for yodelling at all

 

[CptStern]

that shit is annoying and also disturbing ma peace

 

[Stigmata]

I wonder, are soundproofed walls heretical to the Qu'ran?

 

[StarBob]

Yodeling is pretty damn annoying...

 

[VirusType2]

"I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood."

Electric chair.

 

[Mirage]

Yodeling is pretty damn annoying...

To be fair, so are Muslims.

 

[Yuri]

so the law applied to non nazis. what's the problem here? oh I see they're muslim

Stern: the dude always following laws just because they are laws, forever, without exception.

See, I would think yodeling and mowing your lawn would be totally legal things to do, but ya know. im some kind of fool

 

[Darkside55]

Seriously, is EVERYONE afraid of offending these people? I'm sure there wouldn't be a court case if I started singing when my Christian neighbors sat down to grace.

 

[Darkside55]

I play piano and my neighbour thumps on the wall and curses.

Maybe he's trying to start some radical new form of music with you.

 

[dfc05]

While it may be one's "right" to be noisy, there's something to be said for common courtesy. If you're consistently the one provoking his cursing and thumping on the wall without him having done anything prior, you might want to think about that. I used to have a neighbor once who played the keyboard really loud (I'm pretty sure he had the room above me and the sound was coming down). He/she played the same 3-5 note line, over and over again. The same line. Never managed to make up a new one all summer. At the same time, there was a bird outside who used to sing really loud at night. This bird knew more tunes than keyboard dude. Maybe you're better than that. Maybe you play really well. But realize that people around you don't necessarily think so. I used to play the piano in the dorm. Sometimes people would request that I stop, or turn on the tv, or look like they were trying to study. And then I would stop.

I'm not saying I'm never noisy because occasionally I think maybe -despite crappy laptop speakers- my music can be heard next door, since I can hear my neighbor talking on skype (and the person she's talking to) all the time. But I feel bad about it and try to do it less nowadays.

Anyhow, if this guy is actually timing his behavior to overlap specifically with their prayer time, and constantly doing it -- total prick. (I know it's not 100% sure, I'm just speaking hypothetically.) I bet they didn't sign up to buy "a house with gas and electric and running water and a terrible neighbor" so acting like they should just move out if they don't like it is ridiculous.

 

[Raziaar]

Its a stupid law punishing a stupid person for offending stupid people.

Exactly.

You have no right to not be offended! For the love of god, are they praying outside or something? I mean unless he's on your property or blaring incredibly loud noises you can **** off... he's not bothering you. Unless he's intentionally trying to bother them in which case he's a jabroni but not worthy of fines or anything ridiculous like that.

 

[dfc05]

Ah sorry I didn't realize you did it for a class. That's definitely a bit different.

Some people really genuinely dislike piano though . There was a totally nuts Craigslist posting I saw for a free piano. Homeowner had inherited it or something, and wrote "I need to get rid of it I absolutely cannot stand the sound of piano I cannot have this thing in my house anymore." And there are quite a few other postings that aren't quite so extreme but have the "Please, just take it away" sentiment to them.

Also, some music is genuinely mind-wreckingly awful. For instance, that Schoenberg piece where the "singer" wails like a dying cat. If I were exposed to that all day, I'd probably go nuts.

 

[Yuri]

Yo KiplingsCat, just an update for you from a reasonable person: you're allowed to play the ****ing piano in your own ****ing house. In case you were losing hope from all these bullshit responses.

Also, playing piano is not disturbing the peace. Banging on the wall is. Call the cops, and I'm serious.

 

[unozero]

How is this man to blame while he is doing that is a very old Tradition and form of music in his Country?

 

[dfc05]

Yo KiplingsCat, just an update for you from a reasonable person: you're allowed to play the ****ing piano in your own ****ing house. In case you were losing hope from all these bullshit responses.

Also, playing piano is not disturbing the peace. Banging on the wall is. Call the cops, and I'm serious.

In that case, I'd like to move next door to you and play the same three notes repetitively. Over and over and over again.

Or maybe instead I can blast a nice rotation of Justin Bieber songs for you. Interspersed with Schoenberg.

I have a keyboard. I play it. I took 9 years of piano lessons. But still, I turn the volume really really really low. If I'm at home on a real piano, I use the muting pedal.

Banging on the wall isn't really appropriate, but if someone came and said "Hey I'm trying to study/focus/have quiet time," I wouldn't be like "NO WAY IT'S MY RIGHT, FREE COUNTRY MAN, AMERICA!!!!"

 

[dfc05]

I don't quite agree about that last line as that's more of a "are you a moral person, or are you strange and inhuman" question, rather than "does this person bug you" decision.

But yes I agree, everyone is dumb. Dude should not be all yodeling up in people's prayer time. But 700 pounds is an overly steep fine for it.

And it kinda sounds like you and your neighbor might need to talk about it? It's possible that he thinks banging on the wall was a clear message and by ignoring it you're attempting to provoke him or get him back, in which case he bangs louder. And curses! e.g. he might not know that you're taking piano for class? Or maybe you've already told him, in which case.... dang + sorry.

 

[Bad^Hat]

This is dumb. I wonder if they ever even bothered trying to talk to him. The richest part is they thought he was being insensitive to their culture, yet there they are in Austria and they can't even recognise ****ing yodeling. Assholes.

While it may be one's "right" to be noisy, there's something to be said for common courtesy. If you're consistently the one provoking his cursing and thumping on the wall without him having done anything prior, you might want to think about that. I used to have a neighbor once who played the keyboard really loud (I'm pretty sure he had the room above me and the sound was coming down). He/she played the same 3-5 note line, over and over again. The same line. Never managed to make up a new one all summer.

Think about what? That he's a crotchety old guy just looking for something to be crotchety about? That's kind of what it sounds like to me.

I live next to a woman who plays clarinet, presumably in some kind of band since I've seen her in uniform before. She has to practice every day, and often this involves repetitive scales and stuff because... well, that's how you practice. I could be an angry douche about this and thump on the walls or demand she stop, but I don't out of common courtesy. That, and she never plays too early or late like Kipling, so I don't really have any reason to be upset.

On the other hand, I'm a drummer, and if I wanted to practice...

Also, some music is genuinely mind-wreckingly awful.

I used to live directly below a chinese karaoke bar. You don't know shit about awful music. Remember the scene in Rush Hour 2 where the karaoke singer utterly destroys Michael Jackson? Not even scratching the surface.

 

[dfc05]

@BadHat

Meh, I did mention afterwards that banging on walls isn't appropriate. But I'm going to align with the "blame everyone" stance.

I don't really see how anyone can deny that noise could be a weird form of punishment, even when it's "good" music. Maybe especially when it's music. People (yes, even normal people) get real itchy about music. Sometimes they hate it. Alternatively, sometimes they love it so much that they think everyone in the world has to love it (see - dudes blasting tunes out their dorm room window, youtube commenters, etc.). And they're so into it, that they feel like they're doing the world a service by exposing them, even against their will, to Awesome Band X. That is being inconsiderate. They are not considering that other people around might think Awesome Band X is really Godawful Band X.

I'm also reminded that my sister used to "attack" her noisy neighbors by playing violin. Not even badly, just by playing it. So... there's that. And like you said yourself, apparently you wouldn't feel comfortable practicing drums for noise considerations. One of my friends who played piano for class never played in the dorms because he thought people would hate listening to it. I know he had to have loved piano because he took it 4 years and the instructor for the class was this red-haired psycho bitch. Not practicing around others was really only possible because he lived on campus and could get to the music building fairly easily, but he did put in that extra consideration.

Anyhow -- it's been clarified that nobody posting here actually fits the "inconsiderate" mold (and I mean it, not in a snarky way). Unless you think I fit it. I don't know. Fair enough .

 

[Yuri]

In that case, I'd like to move next door to you and play the same three notes repetitively. Over and over and over again.

Or maybe instead I can blast a nice rotation of Justin Bieber songs for you. Interspersed with Schoenberg.

I have a keyboard. I play it. I took 9 years of piano lessons. But still, I turn the volume really really really low. If I'm at home on a real piano, I use the muting pedal.

Banging on the wall isn't really appropriate, but if someone came and said "Hey I'm trying to study/focus/have quiet time," I wouldn't be like "NO WAY IT'S MY RIGHT, FREE COUNTRY MAN, AMERICA!!!!"

...okay. You can do that. I'll turn my stereo on while you practice your instrument.

 

[dfc05]

Umm... I believe that was my point in the first place. That excessively rude and annoying behavior is... well, excessively rude and annoying. And that it annoys others. Excessively. Hence driving them to resort to their own excessively rude and annoying behavior.

Maybe banging on the wall seems worse than turning your stereo on really loud, but in the end it's just more noise, and apparently nobody here seems to have any problems at all with noise, so hell, let him bang as much as he wants. Why discriminate against some noises and not others?

What if this thread were titled "Austrian man fined for banging on his own wall while Muslim neighbors played piano."



Maybe it's just that I'm a quieter type of person. When I'm in my own home, there's a certain expectation that I won't have to deal with people. Aside from crying in bathroom stalls or wandering outside in the middle of the night (I knew a few college students who actually resorted to this), there isn't really any other place to go except home. My home. But I don't have this anymore, because someone is essentially putting themselves inside my home against my will. Maybe it's legal (though let's not forget, there are laws against noise pollution and general disturbance of the peace) -- but it's also rude.

How is it that everyone defends the right of this guy to (supposedly) be loud and obnoxious wherever he pleases, but nobody defends the right of these people to have quiet time in the privacy of their own home for whatever short amount of time they need to pray.

What if these were people in church, and every single Sunday, some guy comes in the door or to the window and starts singing and hollering. Heck, this would be even more acceptable to you, because they're in public! And being in a public place, it's totally ok for some guy to verbally harass them, every Sunday. In fact, they should expect this. If they don't like it, they should just deal with it or move to a different church.



Alternatively, think of it this way:
Remember when those Westboro Church people acted obnoxiously at military funerals, and everyone got in a big hoopla about how awful they were? (I agree that they were awful).
Now we have it turned around such that some dude is acting obnoxiously specifically while people are trying to pray. To that family, this is probably very insulting. This is essentially the guy saying, "Your religion is worth shit to me, but rather than let you be, I feel the need to interfere with it."
Why is one ok, but the other not?
All I'm trying to say it that all people who act obnoxiously to others are awful. There shouldn't be a double standard. But nobody seems to even agree that in any normal circle, it's considered rude to blast whatever noise/music/whathaveyou at the people around you. Your music is good because you think it's good. Your noise is ok because you think it's ok. For anyone else to find it otherwise is horrendous, because it's imposing on your happiness, but god forbid anyone admit that they're imposing on anyone else's happiness.



Anyways, the only thing I find debatable here is the amount on the fine and the fact that it's charged specifically as a religious offense when it's not clear that it was hate-related. The absurdity of the yodeling only serves as an irrelevant distraction. If it were about a man being charged for disturbance of the peace for constantly yelling, I'd think (or hope at least) most people would agree that was a fair punishment.

 

[Sulkdodds]

The problem here is that for some reason either the plaintiffs or the legal authorities have made the very stupid decision of making it an issue of "offence". In reality it is as dfc says an issue of simple courtesy. If the Austrian was deliberately doing it at that time each day, he is in the wrong (his claim that he just felt so happy certainly has the ring of someone feigning innocence because they think they shouldn't be called out on being a jerk). I don't know if this should lead to a criminal case and perhaps the punishment is excessive - it seems obviously so to me. But there is very little information in this news article. We don't know whether the Austrian repeated his actions regularly, we don't know what evidence the Muslim family lodged, we don't know how many times they asked their neighbour kindly to stop disturbing them, and so on.

 

[Shakermaker]

I'd personally rather have a Muslim neighbour that prays quietly than an Austrian yodeling.

 

[Yuri]

Umm... I believe that was my point in the first place. That excessively rude and annoying behavior is... well, excessively rude and annoying. And that it annoys others. Excessively. Hence driving them to resort to their own excessively rude and annoying behavior.

Maybe banging on the wall seems worse than turning your stereo on really loud, but in the end it's just more noise, and apparently nobody here seems to have any problems at all with noise, so hell, let him bang as much as he wants. Why discriminate against some noises and not others?

What if this thread were titled "Austrian man fined for banging on his own wall while Muslim neighbors played piano."



Maybe it's just that I'm a quieter type of person. When I'm in my own home, there's a certain expectation that I won't have to deal with people. Aside from crying in bathroom stalls or wandering outside in the middle of the night (I knew a few college students who actually resorted to this), there isn't really any other place to go except home. My home. But I don't have this anymore, because someone is essentially putting themselves inside my home against my will. Maybe it's legal (though let's not forget, there are laws against noise pollution and general disturbance of the peace) -- but it's also rude.

How is it that everyone defends the right of this guy to (supposedly) be loud and obnoxious wherever he pleases, but nobody defends the right of these people to have quiet time in the privacy of their own home for whatever short amount of time they need to pray.

What if these were people in church, and every single Sunday, some guy comes in the door or to the window and starts singing and hollering. Heck, this would be even more acceptable to you, because they're in public! And being in a public place, it's totally ok for some guy to verbally harass them, every Sunday. In fact, they should expect this. If they don't like it, they should just deal with it or move to a different church.



Alternatively, think of it this way:
Remember when those Westboro Church people acted obnoxiously at military funerals, and everyone got in a big hoopla about how awful they were? (I agree that they were awful).
Now we have it turned around such that some dude is acting obnoxiously specifically while people are trying to pray. To that family, this is probably very insulting. This is essentially the guy saying, "Your religion is worth shit to me, but rather than let you be, I feel the need to interfere with it."
Why is one ok, but the other not?
All I'm trying to say it that all people who act obnoxiously to others are awful. There shouldn't be a double standard. But nobody seems to even agree that in any normal circle, it's considered rude to blast whatever noise/music/whathaveyou at the people around you. Your music is good because you think it's good. Your noise is ok because you think it's ok. For anyone else to find it otherwise is horrendous, because it's imposing on your happiness, but god forbid anyone admit that they're imposing on anyone else's happiness.



Anyways, the only thing I find debatable here is the amount on the fine and the fact that it's charged specifically as a religious offense when it's not clear that it was hate-related. The absurdity of the yodeling only serves as an irrelevant distraction. If it were about a man being charged for disturbance of the peace for constantly yelling, I'd think (or hope at least) most people would agree that was a fair punishment.

Turning on your stereo is excessively rude and annoying?

I would ****ing hate to be your neighbor.

 

[Warped]

Its a stupid law punishing a stupid person for offending stupid people.

this!

I can see if he walked over there and silly sprayed them while they were praying and got a fine but what he has a lawn mower god he worships or what if he's part of a choir. this to me is bullshit either way. I'd do the same if my neighbors were Mormon

 

[Krynn72]

Remember when those Westboro Church people acted obnoxiously at military funerals, and everyone got in a big hoopla about how awful they were? (I agree that they were awful).
Now we have it turned around such that some dude is acting obnoxiously specifically while people are trying to pray. To that family, this is probably very insulting. This is essentially the guy saying, "Your religion is worth shit to me, but rather than let you be, I feel the need to interfere with it."

I don't recall anyone ever calling for legal action against Westboro. I'm pretty sure everyone was just saying they were assholes, which is what people are saying about this guy.

Also church grounds are private property, not public.

Also they were getting upset over the guy mowing his lawn and singing. If I could complain about my neighbors doing that while I'm trying to read, and get a thousand bucks for it, I could ****ing retire.

 

[Escaep]

I'm doing a study abroad in Innsbruck next summer.

dey' best not be yodelin' durin' my studyin' 'ours.

 

[dfc05]

Turning on your stereo is excessively rude and annoying?

I would ****ing hate to be your neighbor.

Well it's unclear if you meant turn it up so only you could hear it, or turn it so loud that everyone within 100 feet of you could hear it. I assumed the latter. After all, it's pretty hard to drown out Justin Bieber/wailing cat woman unless your stereo is loud enough so that your neighbor can hear yours. Then they turn their music up louder. Then you turn yours louder. Eventually this escalates to people blaring music as loud as possible. Then someone gets out their gun.

Anyways, I would also ****ing hate to be your neighbor if you think it's ok to play loud music whenever you want. Because that would make you a bad neighbor.

And for the record, I have never reported anyone for noise considerations. I think they're inconsiderate, because they are, but no I don't actually report them.

So tell me again, who would you rather live next to: The person who decides to play the same annoying song for an hour straight every day; or the person who is quiet and just gives you funny looks in the hall because you're the person who's inconsiderate. In the end, it's the good neighbor who loses out while the bad neighbor continues being a bad neighbor because it's their right. It's only fair that occasionally a bad neighbor is punished for consistently being a bad neighbor (as presumably happened in the news story).

I don't recall anyone ever calling for legal action against Westboro. I'm pretty sure everyone was just saying they were assholes, which is what people are saying about this guy.

Actually no, they said that his behavior was fine and that his neighbors should just deal with it, and that there was absolutely no reason for them to get offended.

Also church grounds are private property, not public.

Fine. Doesn't matter. If someone went to a church every Sunday and interrupted their service, would you think that behavior was unworthy of legal punishment?

Also they were getting upset over the guy mowing his lawn and singing. If I could complain about my neighbors doing that while I'm trying to read, and get a thousand bucks for it, I could ****ing retire.

Since he was actually charged with it, I assume he was constantly doing it. I looked up disturbance of peace laws in US (maybe they're different elsewhere), but the course of action is -- 1. Go out yourself and ask the person to stop. 2. Call the police if they don't stop. Apparently it has to be pretty bad already for the police to care enough to stop by. The police will come and give them a warning. 3. If they still don't stop, then you take them to court.

Following that line of logic and the fact that the family says he kept doing it during prayer time, the guy must have been doing it consistently.

What if every single day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your neighbor loudly started yelling and/or making a huge racket? You ask him to stop repeatedly. He doesn't. You call the police and they give him multiple warnings. He still does not stop. Would you seriously live with that?


It's absurd that I actually have to argue for why we shouldn't defend assholes for being assholes. I mean heck, even the yodeler himself took on the fine without much complaint. So why are we complaining about it?

The only conclusion I can come up with, is that everyone here (except Sulkdodds who apparently is both sane and an awesome neighbor to have) is an inconsiderate prick who doesn't care at all for the well-being of their neighbors or the sanctity of a person's home. You can make as much noise as you want, on a recurring basis, and your neighbor should have to take it on the chin even though they didn't do anything to deserve it. That's really selfish. An "I'm better than everyone and my happiness is worth more than anyone else's" mentality.

The other really pathetic thing I have to question is whether people simply regard prayer time as illegitimate and worthless, as it's quite obvious that the majority of hl2.net has an anti-religion mentality. I hate to agree with Stern, but he might have something there.

 

[15357]

I was going to write something about how I would fine anyone for yodeling whenever, but dfc's post sums up my ideas pretty well.

The only conclusion I can come up with, is that everyone here (except Sulkdodds who apparently is both sane and an awesome neighbor to have) is an inconsiderate prick who doesn't care at all for the well-being of their neighbors or the sanctity of a person's home. You can make as much noise as you want, on a recurring basis, and your neighbor should have to take it on the chin even though they didn't do anything to deserve it. That's really selfish. An "I'm better than everyone and my happiness is worth more than anyone else's" mentality.

This.

 

[dfc05]

Well, thank goodness. I was beginning to think that it's now become a social norm for everyone to be a noisy neighbor, and that I'm showing my age and/or fallen behind the times and/or born of a strange and quiet alien race.

And before anyone pulls the "ok it's inconsiderate but he shouldn't be fined for it; his neighbors are just a bunch of prudes" argument -- yes, there needs to be a legal recourse for this for recurring cases and this action ought to be taken, or else there will be nothing to stop the person from doing it. Then if your good neighbor happens to be bonkers (perhaps driven further so by your annoying behavior), he pulls out his gun and becomes a very very very bad neighbor. And bam! You just caused the collapse of society. Also, you're dead.

I mean, there's a fine for pulling out your genitals and waving it around in public (which is oddly much like what is happening in this thread in a metaphorical sense :dozey. I don't think anyone would argue against that fine, unless you wanted to do it and/or wanted to see others do it :naughty:. I don't see constantly being a jerk to your neighbor as any better than that.

 

[Krynn72]

What if every single day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your neighbor loudly started yelling and/or making a huge racket? You ask him to stop repeatedly. He doesn't. You call the police and they give him multiple warnings. He still does not stop. Would you seriously live with that?

The amount of noise that lawn mowing and singing produces is certainly livable for me. I lived next door (in a duplex, with a shared wall) to someone who played heavy base music all night. Didn't bother me any.

And for your information, I'm a very quiet person.

 

[dfc05]

Well then...



you are a very tolerant person.

hmph. now what do you have to say to that, huh.

Spoiler

[edit]
@below:

oh ho, i see what you did thar

and yet

still hard to tell if serious

hence

retarded edit

 

[Krynn72]

I say...


SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY. YOU'RE MAKING SO MUCH NOISE.

 

[Yuri]

Well it's unclear if you meant turn it up so only you could hear it, or turn it so loud that everyone within 100 feet of you could hear it. I assumed the latter. After all, it's pretty hard to drown out Justin Bieber/wailing cat woman unless your stereo is loud enough so that your neighbor can hear yours. Then they turn their music up louder. Then you turn yours louder. Eventually this escalates to people blaring music as loud as possible. Then someone gets out their gun.

i love this whole argument i really do. i wish it was easy to prove that this is not sarcastic. i look forward to reading this thread.

because there is a wall, to drown out the sound of something which annoys you requires putting a stereo on at a lesser volume than whatever they're doing. end of problem, unless you are a whiny self-absorbed prick that thinks the world exists for their personal leisure. other people exist. you have to look at their disgusting bodies and faces and you have to smell their foul breath and rancid food. and you have to deal with listening to their bullshit. deal with it. :sunglasses:

 

[15357]

i love this whole argument i really do. i wish it was easy to prove that this is not sarcastic. i look forward to reading this thread.

because there is a wall, to drown out the sound of something which annoys you requires putting a stereo on at a lesser volume than whatever they're doing. end of problem, unless you are a whiny self-absorbed prick that thinks the world exists for their personal leisure. other people exist. you have to look at their disgusting bodies and faces and you have to smell their foul breath and rancid food. and you have to deal with listening to their bullshit. deal with it. :sunglasses:

You might want to start dealing with it by not bothering other people.

 

[VirusType2]

The problem here is that for some reason either the plaintiffs or the legal authorities have made the very stupid decision of making it an issue of "offence". In reality it is as dfc says an issue of simple courtesy. If the Austrian was deliberately doing it at that time each day, he is in the wrong (his claim that he just felt so happy certainly has the ring of someone feigning innocence because they think they shouldn't be called out on being a jerk). I don't know if this should lead to a criminal case and perhaps the punishment is excessive - it seems obviously so to me. But there is very little information in this news article. We don't know whether the Austrian repeated his actions regularly, we don't know what evidence the Muslim family lodged, we don't know how many times they asked their neighbour kindly to stop disturbing them, and so on.

Yeah, exactly. That's why I didn't bother and just made a joke instead:

Electric chair.

But you know what, all this talk of being considerate, let me tell you something...

There's this stupid dickface that blasts his car stereo past my house generally several times a day. It rattles my windows and disturbs what I'm doing and I can hear it coming from a half-mile away. Sometimes it's in the middle of the night and it wakes me up. What a ****ing ****.

It was cool when I did it, like in the 1990s, now it's just ****ing annoying. OK, I understand that you desperately want attention, would a brick through your window do it? Bitch.

When I'm drinking, I always swear to myself I'm going to follow that douche-bag home so I can find out where he parks that heap. I memorized the times he drove by so I know when to wait. I'm going to kick in his ****ing woofers. Actually, I was first going to leave him a warning to keep it down when he drives through a residential street. Has nobody had the nerve to speak up to him yet? Jesus. Maybe he just couldn't hear them. I was out getting the mail one time and I was furious about something else when he drove by and I yelled to him to SHUT THE **** UP, but I don't think I caught his attention. It's possible he heard me over his stereo, because I was pissed off.

I remember when I had a major stereo system in my car. Once, a couple of dudes told me to "turn that shit down!" from across a parking lot (I was blasting the shit out of the parking spot, while my date was getting her nails done). I was furious. I was talking myself out of going to the pawn shop and getting a gun to ****ing shoot at these ****ers (I think there is a mandatory waiting period on handguns to prevent shit like this). I have never been so ready for action over something so stupid, so I can't really explain that.

But that changed me. I began to hit the attenuator (it's like 85% mute or something) at the stop lights, and turning it down through residential areas. There are plenty of places where you can blast your shit without being an asshole.

Also, get a ****ing muffler all you ****ing ****ers.

 

[dfc05]

Edit: Actually, we are awesome neighbours. We mow our next-door neighbour's lawn (or used to, before he started banging on the wall and swearing), we feed people's cats, we give people mince pies, we're even having one of our neighbours over for Christmas this year. Most of the people on my street are like that. We babysit each other's kids, we look out for people when they're unwell, we all stop and say hello to each other on the street. If we all obsessed about other people making noise (which they inevitably do) then we wouldn't have that kind of community. I play piano, a man up the road plays saxophone, a few people have yappy little dogs, most of us entertain and have parties from time to time...it's a really nice place to live, and one of the realities of living here is that it's not always going to be perfectly quiet. I have never known it not to be peaceful though.

Ah, well that sounds like a nice rainbow marshmallow world. I guess I've never lived anywhere like that. Currently I'm in an apartment complex where nobody sees each other in the hallways and we just sit in our room and... study all the time. I spend up to 14 hours at school, and 6 asleep, so it's nice to have 4 hours alone. And these are all one-bedroom apartments which is probably indicative enough that we are all LONERS and like it this way! I did consider putting up an open invite for neighbors to come for Thanksgiving, but we don't even know each other's names. It is like opposite-Cheers-world. So if someone had a legitimate reason to make noise -- e.g. class, skype-ing with relatives in Italy, etc. -- fair enough. If they were just doing it just because they felt like it -- e.g. what Virus was talking about, or yodeling out on your lawn all the time -- I think it's reasonable to expect the person to tone it down since, in my community, other people would expect that of me.

Anyways, admittedly I occasionally have a stick up my butt. You are allowed to quote me on that in the future, especially if I get argumentative, because frankly it's embarrassing. To myself. Half an hour after I write them, there's a 95% chance I'm facepalming myself because of... myself.

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