CHAPTER 1
It was the first time I was on my own and I loved it. I suppose most of my enthusiasm was focused on the fact that I truly felt like an adult after years of roommates. It was a basement apartment with two bedrooms, a decent sized living room and dining room. The kitchen left a lot to be desired but I didn’t care. I decided where to put things. Plates were placed in a certain cupboard because I wanted them to be there.
I spent a lot of time pondering the perfect configuration of furniture in my rooms. I spent even more time admiring the layouts once I completed them. The rent was reasonable, it was easy to get to work and I had friends in the apartment next door. Everything was perfect…
Except for… them…
I heard them thumping above me several times but I let them off the hook by blaming the building’s age. It wasn’t until one awful morning about a month after I moved in that I realized they were completely inconsiderate…
It was 7am and I got home from work a few hours earlier. I was startled out of my peaceful sleep by the loudest music I’ve ever heard through a ceiling. You always hope it won’t last long but it always does. Especially if you’re overly tired and/or sick. In this instance, it lasted almost 2 hours! I eventually had to sleep on the couch in the living room to escape the constant thumping. My neighbors sucked.
It was a single mother who was in her mid thirties even though she looked like she was about to celebrate her 52nd birthday. She had a teenage son with vision problems who was rarely seen outside their apartment. Like his mother, the young man looked a lot older than he was. My best guess was 15 or 16 but I swear to you I thought they were a couple when I first saw them. You would believe me if you saw these people.
There is a formula to measure people’s ignorance when playing loud music. A way of checking if someone is a complete moron or completely oblivious to their impact on others.
THE LOUD MUSIC VS ANNOYANCE FORMULA
Music Volume * (Length of music + Type of music) = Total Annoyance
10 Minutes = It’s not that bad
20 Minutes = This isn’t happening… Is it?
30 Minutes = Who the f&#@ are these people?
1 Hour+ = *
In this case, the star (*) represents the overall tolerance level of the individual. Everyone has their limits. I happen to be a patient person so I let it slide… They didn’t blast music in the morning often but when they did, it took every ounce of restraint I had to avoid breaking my hand on the ceiling.
The lesson to anyone who thinks nobody hears the music below is simple. We can hear it! Always assume we can hear your music. Especially if you keep the sub woofer on the floor.
The war had begun…
