I genuinely marvel at people who still have notifications turned on -- like, how does your brain stay put in one place for more than 11 seconds at a time when your phone is constantly dinging, beeping, ringing, singing to and at you?
I only have one appliance that has a song -- my washing machine. It's short and I kind of love it (more than kind of) so it stays, but I don't want anything else to "talk" to me in this way.
So true. I seek quiet and find it harder to come by all the time. I just got off the river in my kayak. Three hours of deep silence. Only the birds and the wind, until I got into town. Then cars and fire engines and people's voices. We all need to turn off the noise now and then. Thanks for the reminder.
Totally. There are moments when I'm thankful for how much these things piss me off. Hey phone, THANK YOU for reminding me that capitalism isn't here for me.
Lucky you for being fairly noise-tolerant! I am not...but feel I need to keep working on desensitizing myself so I am not so dependent on a quiet environment in order to do things I want to do (write, read, meditate, etc). My old appliances just beeped which was irritating, but my brand new ones sing, so I'm enjoying that noise! for now 😸
There truly is SO much noise. But yes, I hear you on trying to desensitize somewhat, so you don't need absolute quiet. For years and years I could not work with any music on, but I've shifted to playing ambient music in headphones as a way to block out some outside noise.
I'm totally with you on the excessive noisery of phones and machines. Most home appliances have an option to turn the noises off. Anytime we lose power, they revert back to default beep mode and it's instantly aggravating. My phone is always in silent mode, I mute texting and just LOOK for notifications, rather than listen.
Interesting. I sometimes tune out noises that other people find distracting. Then again, I do have a mild case of tinnitus so I've got some constant background noise anyway.
I think I have mild tinnitus also (that's the thing where there's always ringing in my ears, yes?). I think my standards for what noises I can tolerate and which ones I find intolerable have everything to do with the day. How I slept, if I'm annoyed at other stuff, how work is going, etc.
Keeping my phone on silent helps so much! And I get really annoyed when I can hear someone else’s notifications too, especially when they don’t pull out their phone and turn it off. I assume they are the same people that play their music through speakers at the pool or lake but that has never been confirmed 😂
I definitely have the notifications on my phone turned off, but one good thing about Seattle is that it's a great place to walk--but on the very bad side, that means there are other walkers everywhere and many of them WALK WHILE TALKING AS LOUD AS THEY CAN ON THEIR PHONE. I mean!! Two days ago, I rerouted my walk to get away from a Boomer lady who was holding her phone in front of her face horizontally and yelling into its butt as she walked (apparently upset about something with the UW faculty senate, as I was involuntarily informed), and I walked over another block so I wouldn't hear her anymore (which I still sorta did, even through the trees!) and another old guy was sitting out on his stoop, angrily muttering. At first I thought he was upset with me, but I saw an earpiece on his ear as I powerwalked past (to try to get yet another block away, so I could enjoy my normal-level-of-noise walk). So, yeah. I wish I could blame the appliances and electronics and birds here, but it's the "public phone conversation" lovers that make things...interesting. Compared to all that, my house's appliances and electronics seem downright monasterial!
Yeah, I have overheard some wild conversations. It's this imaginary phone booth phenomenon (something I just made up) where people think they're in a soundproofed box if they're talking on the phone and no one else can hear them. Normalized whispered phone conversations, I say. I do remember reading an essay a few years ago about someone who the essay-writer called "phone lady" because she was always on the phone at the dog park. The other dog park people would always be rolling their eyes at her. But then it turned out she worked in the court, getting kids out of abusive situations, had to handle it all day, and her time at the dog park was her only respite. I don't remember all of it -- but maybe she was on the phone with her therapist? Crucially: no one could hear her conversation, only knew that she was on the phone. Anyway. So I recognize that some phone calls are necessary. But also many are not.
I genuinely marvel at people who still have notifications turned on -- like, how does your brain stay put in one place for more than 11 seconds at a time when your phone is constantly dinging, beeping, ringing, singing to and at you?
I only have one appliance that has a song -- my washing machine. It's short and I kind of love it (more than kind of) so it stays, but I don't want anything else to "talk" to me in this way.
I mean, I don't think anyone's brain DOES stay put in one place, with all the dinging.
I wish we could pick the songs. Like with a ringtone. What if my dishwasher played Queen? What if my washing machine sang like Beyonce?
Hell yes.
My washing machine sings a version of the Trout Quintet!
So true. I seek quiet and find it harder to come by all the time. I just got off the river in my kayak. Three hours of deep silence. Only the birds and the wind, until I got into town. Then cars and fire engines and people's voices. We all need to turn off the noise now and then. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes! This is one of the reasons I love being out on the water!
The irony--I came just to like the post and the Substack app asked if I wanted to turn on notifications. NO I DO NOT, THANK YOU
I almost always have to say it out loud. Like I really need my phone to know: "NO THANK YOU TO NOTIFYING ME!"
Totally. There are moments when I'm thankful for how much these things piss me off. Hey phone, THANK YOU for reminding me that capitalism isn't here for me.
Lucky you for being fairly noise-tolerant! I am not...but feel I need to keep working on desensitizing myself so I am not so dependent on a quiet environment in order to do things I want to do (write, read, meditate, etc). My old appliances just beeped which was irritating, but my brand new ones sing, so I'm enjoying that noise! for now 😸
There truly is SO much noise. But yes, I hear you on trying to desensitize somewhat, so you don't need absolute quiet. For years and years I could not work with any music on, but I've shifted to playing ambient music in headphones as a way to block out some outside noise.
I'm totally with you on the excessive noisery of phones and machines. Most home appliances have an option to turn the noises off. Anytime we lose power, they revert back to default beep mode and it's instantly aggravating. My phone is always in silent mode, I mute texting and just LOOK for notifications, rather than listen.
Yes, my phone is always in silent mode too! My teenager says only "old people" leave their sound on. 🤷
Interesting. I sometimes tune out noises that other people find distracting. Then again, I do have a mild case of tinnitus so I've got some constant background noise anyway.
I think I have mild tinnitus also (that's the thing where there's always ringing in my ears, yes?). I think my standards for what noises I can tolerate and which ones I find intolerable have everything to do with the day. How I slept, if I'm annoyed at other stuff, how work is going, etc.
Keeping my phone on silent helps so much! And I get really annoyed when I can hear someone else’s notifications too, especially when they don’t pull out their phone and turn it off. I assume they are the same people that play their music through speakers at the pool or lake but that has never been confirmed 😂
I definitely have the notifications on my phone turned off, but one good thing about Seattle is that it's a great place to walk--but on the very bad side, that means there are other walkers everywhere and many of them WALK WHILE TALKING AS LOUD AS THEY CAN ON THEIR PHONE. I mean!! Two days ago, I rerouted my walk to get away from a Boomer lady who was holding her phone in front of her face horizontally and yelling into its butt as she walked (apparently upset about something with the UW faculty senate, as I was involuntarily informed), and I walked over another block so I wouldn't hear her anymore (which I still sorta did, even through the trees!) and another old guy was sitting out on his stoop, angrily muttering. At first I thought he was upset with me, but I saw an earpiece on his ear as I powerwalked past (to try to get yet another block away, so I could enjoy my normal-level-of-noise walk). So, yeah. I wish I could blame the appliances and electronics and birds here, but it's the "public phone conversation" lovers that make things...interesting. Compared to all that, my house's appliances and electronics seem downright monasterial!
I'm all about monastic appliances!
Yeah, I have overheard some wild conversations. It's this imaginary phone booth phenomenon (something I just made up) where people think they're in a soundproofed box if they're talking on the phone and no one else can hear them. Normalized whispered phone conversations, I say. I do remember reading an essay a few years ago about someone who the essay-writer called "phone lady" because she was always on the phone at the dog park. The other dog park people would always be rolling their eyes at her. But then it turned out she worked in the court, getting kids out of abusive situations, had to handle it all day, and her time at the dog park was her only respite. I don't remember all of it -- but maybe she was on the phone with her therapist? Crucially: no one could hear her conversation, only knew that she was on the phone. Anyway. So I recognize that some phone calls are necessary. But also many are not.