Backstory: I was complaining to my mother about how one of my horrible coworkers kept listening to country music on the radio without all day at work.
Aural harassment. Cripes. And you’ll have to hope someone else complains about it, because you are vilified if you do. Does she play the radio and field calls? Ugh. And why do country-western listeners always assume they are doing you a favor by letting you listen in on their hokum? And you could, if you were similarly clueless, play Daft Punk while you work, but Noooo. Only listeners of country-western cloying sentimental faux-patriotic bunk feel they should share; like having a stick of gum is okay if you have enough for everyone.
I’ve had to put up with “aural harassment” from fans of all sorts of genres, not just country, but I despise country music and I absolutely love how your mom describes it!
I used to live next to a lady who blasted religious music and bible quotes out her windows all day, and another who was a fan of what I can only describe as “Latino polka”.
I feel for you.
March 21, 2010 at 7:29 pm
EM- actually my mother and I both enjoy Norteño (and Tejano) quite a bit, but they should still wear headphones at work!
March 21, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I worked for four very long years next to a woman singing loudly along to wailing, growling country songs about The Flag, Real American Patriots, Love America or Leave It – and the woman was a green-card Canadian who didn’t want to become a citizen!
March 21, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Don’t know if this will get you fired or not, but if you can stand it, get a CD of Scottish bagpipes. I had a neighbor who would play some awful music to cover up their vocal bedroom sounds, and by chance learned that 2 minutes of bagpipes (even louder) solved the problem. If bagpipes can be heard over the clashing sounds of battle, my neighbors didn’t stand a chance.
March 21, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Having endured years of backseat listening to my mother’s country music (!) I too LOVE your mom’s description of it! Battling back may be impractical, but isn’t it nice to think of? I like the bagpipes idea… I personally fight the untimely rap/dance music of my downstairs neighbors with Wagnerian opera. :)
March 22, 2010 at 12:32 am
This is an amazing post. One of the best I’ve read… hahaha!
March 22, 2010 at 11:58 am
I thought that actual bagpipes would be good revenge against my neighbors’ urban noise (loud house stereos, boom boxes on the front stoops,car systems that rattle my brickwork). Turns out, if the bagpipe is played inside my house, the sound doesn’t even cut through my own walls out to the sidewalk. Their stuff must be even louder than I thought!
March 22, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Also, I notice that the people who play their stuff too loud are seldom playing Beethoven, and hardly ever playing Haydn or Mozart. MAybe a BIG speaker with classical selections facing out an open window will help me. Or, in the case of the original post, play a nice overture or symphony at work.
March 22, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Go to Staples and get a $10 set of headphones and give them to the co-worker. “I saw these, and I thought you might appreciate being able to listen to your music without all of us bothering you.”
March 24, 2010 at 3:28 pm
I dont know if this qualifies because she really was trying to be quiet, but I had a co-worker who was super-Christian and would listen to her sermons every day (on headphones) but she would scream out AMEN about every 10 seconds and when there was a hymn on she would hum the whole thing so its like, why dont you just take the headphones off?
March 25, 2010 at 2:53 am
I think every person that I’ve met that likes country assumes that everyone else just adores it too. If I share that I don’t like it, they just stare at me blankly and try to convince me that I really do care for it.
March 27, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I am a Texas transplant and they are that way about country music and EVERYTHING else that they hold dear. There is no sustainable life outside of the county that they live in and the only music is country.
April 28, 2010 at 2:26 pm
There’s certainly a great deal to find out about this issue.
I really like all of the points you’ve made.
August 30, 2017 at 5:19 pm