At various times and for various reasons I’ve retired or retreated or refrained from commenting on various things in the newspapers, even though I may have had a lot on my mind that just cried for some means of expression.
The trouble is that sometimes I felt that I was talking too much about my personal problems and expecting more sympathetic responses than I was getting. But I also knew that many other people had the same problems as I did, but were saying or doing nothing about them. Sometimes it seems pointless to talk about issues when yours is the only voice.
In the past I had written many commentaries complaining about loud music and other sounds which contaminate and spoil the natural beauty and charm of Nevis. Although concerned about the overall effect on Nevis and its inhabitants, I was mostly driven by the terrible personal toll that I suffered from loud music.
Many were the times that I could not get a decent night’s sleep in my own bed because of loud music being played in the area. Several times I actually paid to spend the night at a guest house some distance away where things were much quieter.
Adding insult to injury were the rude, insensitive comments from some people who obviously enjoyed the loud music, “If you don’t like it, why don’t you just move?” Some of them didn’t even live in the area.
They just came for the noise and excitement being offered at an establishment that took no notice of the fact that the noise that this operation generated was intruding on the peace and quiet of my home. Yet here they were telling me to move from what had been my family’s home since 1950!
What made matters even worse for me at the time, is that the police department routinely granted permission for my tormentors to use “noisy instruments” during certain prescribed hours.
At first the disturbances occurred one night a week, but in a short period of time it was happening three nights every week. There are fifty-two weeks in each year. I did not look forward with glee to the prospect of the peace and quiet of my home being legally disturbed by “noisy instruments” in the neighbourhood, one hundred and fifty-six times during the course of the year. I appealed to the police and made my displeasure known, but got absolutely nowhere.
Apparently I was the only one complaining, and that wasn’t enough for them to stop granting permission for the use of “noisy instruments” in my neighbourhood. It didn’t seem to matter to anybody but me and my family that these unwelcome intrusions interfered with my concentration when I was writing, reading, or trying to enjoy my own music, or radio, or television show, or simply just needing peace and quiet for restful relaxation in the sanctity of my own home.
Satisfying the urges of some inconsiderate merrymakers seemed to be of paramount importance to the authorities, or at least that was the impression that I gathered. That was then – some years back. Yet I feel that things haven’t gotten any better since then. In fact, I actually believe that things have become worse, much worse.
The police department is apparently still routinely granting permission for revelers to use “noisy instruments” without regard to the suffering or distress it may cause others. The reason I say this is because of the personal frustrations that many people now tell me they experience when they complain about the noise in their area, and how it affects them.
Besides this, on my daily excursions into Charlestown, I frequently have to pass shops where music is playing so loudly that I squinch up my eyes and wince as I hurry by. The squinching and wincing is an involuntary, automatic response of my body seeking protection against the sudden unwarranted assault of sound.
Driving through Charlestown on a weekend can be pretty harrowing when passing a battery of loudspeakers blasting away, especially at the head of the Samuel Hunkins Drive where the din seems ear-shattering and bone-rattling as you round the curve.
And only last week while driving up Main Street, I experienced one of the most frightening moments of my life. Just as I passed the Post Office, a tremendous booming blast from an array of loudspeakers set up at the Treasury Building, caused me to almost pass out. I actually didn’t know what had happened at first, and was completely disoriented. I stomped on the brakes, my hands frozen on the steering wheel and looked wildly about, not knowing where the sound had come from or what had caused it. I was literally in a state of shock and panic and could not proceed for a few moments. I believe only a terrorist attack could produce a similar reaction in me.
And then on a daily basis, whether walking or driving, I am annoyed by the numerous cars with loudspeakers booming, roaming the streets as if searching for targets for their acoustic attacks.
They look and sound ominous and menacing and while they may be a delight to their owners and friends, they are a blight and a scourge to people like me who long for the peace and quiet that once existed in our neighbourhoods and that Nevis was famous for in the past.
Recently I’ve been hearing more and more other people complain about loud music and noise and how frustrated they are because it seems their complaints fall on deaf ears and nothing will be done to rectify the situation.
That is why I’ve decided to come out of mothballs and weigh in on this issue again. But my voice alone will not mean much – a lot of others will have to add some weight to the effort too. I want a quieter and more peaceful and tranquil Nevis, and am willing to try to do something to achieve that goal. Those who are of a similar mind should please call 469-1424 or 765-3559. Amba Trott’s the name. Let’s come out of mothballs and see what we can do together! Pretty please..?
