Ear Plugs Help with Lifes Annoyances
Monday, July 11th, 2011Ear plugs do more than just protect your hearing; they will protect your very sanity! Of course, some people like hustle and bustle, but many others prefer to keep commotion at a minimum. But a significant number of people also need real peace and quiet — even in the city?
Get some ear plugs, that’s what! Inexpensive, they’re practically free when compared to what you get, some peace of mind. And oftentimes for city-dwellers neighbors are simply on the other side of a piece of drywall, even when they’re not roomies!
And that’s when ear plugs can help. They’re not always going to solve the problem, but they are often helpful, minimizing the noise if not downright stopping it altogether. Most commonly available kinds, however, are only rated up to thirty-two or thirty-three decibels, an absurdly low level of prevention, one comparable to mild conversational tones. For something stronger, specialty models are necessary, but these are nowhere near as easily found on the marketplace.
But it may be impractical to wear them continuously. While many people get used to them, others find the practice increasingly irritable, especially when reusing ear plugs. Ultimately, no one should have to live with noise pollution in the first place. Unfortunately, most legal jurisdictions do not find the matter an important one to adjudicate. Believe it or not, even the city with the toughest noise pollution laws in the country, New York, treats the matter seriously enough. In fact, while most noise complaints involve residential neighbors, it is precisely this class of disputes that authorities there avoid handling!
Jean-Paul Sartre famously remarked that “hell is other people;” this may explain whyThe Big Apple is so reluctant to intervene between warring neighbors, which is but hell multiplied exponentially! But what do the laws on the books do, then? What is Mayor Bloomberg’s signature 311 civic complaints hotline doing besides simply giving out information?
It seems like most people don’t mind noise. That’s the sad truth, in the final analysis: most folks just don’t mind it. That’s why it goes on. Folks likely aren’t all that aware how important mental sanity is – nor, even, the inverse relationship between it and noise pollution!