Over the years, I have probably voiced my complaints about loud music more often than any other writer in the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis. In my book, ‘Nonsense in Nevis’, it is the subject of a short story as well as several reprints of earlier Trott Talk articles. In the short story, I use a humorous, fictional character to approach the problem. But in reality, the adverse effects of unnecessarily loud music is no laughing matter, but is surely symptomatic of many serious social ills in our community.
If a stranger invades your home without being invited, he is clearly trespassing. If you ask him to leave and he refuses, he is robbing you of your privacy. If you complain to the proper authorities and they do nothing, you are denied justice. If you take matters into your own hands and retaliate, you are likely to run into some serious legal problems. If you do nothing and allow the invader to continue trespassing and robbing you of your privacy, you become a hostage to the situation, and somebody else’s doormat.
In the past, I have experienced all of the above. The stranger in my home was the loud, unwanted, uninvited music which was produced by others at a volume that was intrusive and I was forced to endure. Appealing to those producing the music was mostly in vain, since their enjoyment of the loud music took preference over my desire for peace and quiet in my own home and surroundings.
Appealing to the police produced frustration, since the police issued permits empowering my tormentors to use “noisy instruments” for a prescribed number of hours in the evenings several times a week. Taking matters into my own hands one evening, and retaliating by bombarding my tormentors with a different type of music from my own sound system, was another exercise in futility and frustration.
Just as I planned, my music interfered with their enjoyment of the type of music they were playing. They told me to stop it or they would call the police. I told them I would stop my loud music if they would stop theirs, otherwise they should go right ahead and call the police. It was well after midnight before the police finally showed up, and by then, I had already given up and packed up my equipment. But they came to my door anyway and told me that I should not spoil other people’s enjoyment, and that if I wanted to play loud music I should apply for a permit!
On a number of occasions I went to a local guest house to get a decent night’s sleep. I even begged the proprietors to reduce the rates for me, out of pity for the fact that I was unable to enjoy peace and quiet in my own home, on those occasions. But that was a few years ago. Currently I am living in a rented house in a quiet area in Bath Village. Although our family has other property that I could live in without paying rent, the area is no longer as quiet and peaceful as I need.
Loudness and lewdness seem to have become the order of the day for more and more of our people in recent years. The louder the music, the wilder and bolder the behaviour and activity, and the less consideration we seem able to display toward those in the community who can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and quiet. There are places I avoid going to simply because the noise level is too high and uncomfortable for me. And for the same reason, I miss going to many concerts and cultural events that I used to be able to enjoy.
Sometimes even walking through Charlestown is discomfiting because of noisy loudspeakers blaring, and an attitude of rudeness and lewdness displayed by many unthinking and uncaring people, including schoolchildren. A number of studies have been done which show that children in noisy areas do not perform as well as children in quieter surroundings. Surely this is something that all of us who care about our country and its future should give some serious consideration to.
In my previous column, I stated that I had never done well in school. My early environment may have been part of that problem. But I do know now with absolute certainty, that in order to do my best work as a creative artist and a writer, I need to be in peaceful and quiet surroundings. I find that I cannot think clearly – let alone write, in a noisy atmosphere. And if I can’t enjoy peace and quiet in my own home, not only does my output and the quality suffer, but I also tend to become physically affected, sometimes quite seriously.
I was at an appointment recently, reviewing some important legal documents in a lawyer’s office on Main Street in Charlestown. I was doing my utmost to focus on the papers in my hands and absorb the meaning of the legal phraseology, which is sometimes a bit perplexing – at least for me. But somewhere else in the building, loud reggae music was being played which reverberated through the lawyer’s office, causing me extreme discomfort. Since I expected to be there only a short time, I said nothing, but I kept losing the thread of what I was reading and had to struggle over it several times. The pounding deep bass rhythm of the music actually seemed to be interfering with my heartbeat, and by the time I left the office I was actually feeling a little groggy and dazed.
As I proceeded a short distance up the street away from the sound, I felt a marked improvement. I took a couple of deep breaths and assured myself that I was okay and feeling as good as ever. It was such a rapid and remarkable transformation that I felt impelled to go back to the Lawyer’s office and tell him about the whole incident and the effect the loud music had on me.
He sighed and explained that he had appealed on several occasions to the other tenant and the landlord, to no avail. He said he had even sought the assistance of the police in the matter, but they had felt that the tenant had a right to play loud music in order to attract customers for the business. Quite frankly, I agree that a business has to do something to attract customers. But on the other hand, I feel just as strongly that for anyone playing loud music, proper consideration should be given to what effect those actions may have on other people. Too often though, that doesn’t seem to be anyone’s consideration!
