People ask all kinds of things these days. Well, I guess it’s not only these days, I guess they always did. I don’t ask as much as I used to, and the replies I’ve been getting lately are not nearly as satisfactory as the responses that I used to get. For instance, when I was a tot in Montreal, I would ask my daddy things like why the stars only came out at night and how did they stay up in the sky instead of falling like raindrops. My mommy would sometimes ask me what was wrong if I didn’t finish my porridge in the morning. And my older sister would often ask me to go away if I was pestering her. Sometimes she would even add “Please?”
In my school days I’d ask the teacher “May I be excused?” if I needed to use the toilet. I had to hold up my hand first though, to get her attention. Sometimes it took awhile and in my urgency I’d utter desperately “Miss, Miss, Miss…” until she looked at me and asked, “Yes Amba – what is it now?” After I quit school and got a job, I was too shy to ask for a raise when I found out what others were getting even after I’d been there a while. When I applied for a job somewhere else, the boss asked me what I expected to be paid. But the question was so unexpected that I blurted out something that was only a little more than what my previous job paid. I was hired so quickly that I felt that maybe I should have asked for a bit more. But on the other hand, I wondered if asking for more than I did would have been asking for too much and foiled my chances. Over the years I’ve often had to consider the limitations for things that I might ask, or whatever is asked of me. What is too much?
I’ve been living in my mother’s homeland of Nevis since 1985. Soon after I arrived I became heavily involved in writing, directing and producing stage plays in the community. In 1986 I directed the play “The Slave With Two Faces” when the nurses at the Alexandra Hospital asked me to do so for their Annual Variety Show. That same year I directed “Smile Orange” when asked by the Nevis Dramatic and Cultural Society. And the following year, wrote, directed and produced an historical musical comedy “Horatio!” at the request of the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society.
In subsequent years I wrote, directed, participated in and produced a variety of entertainments, secular, spiritual and educational for the schools, the libraries, the churches, community clubs, and contestants for various shows at Culturama, whenever I was asked. I always tried to do whatever I was asked to the best of my ability and never for a moment thought that it was asking too much of me. Some of the contestants that I helped for Culturama won in their categories. And some people still rave about other shows I created, like “Five Star Follies” and “Nonsense In Nevis” and ask when I am going to do another great show.
I always sought to do things that were uplifting and culturally enriching for the community, and avoid things that are coarse and degrading. And the doors to my family’s home at Hamilton House were always open to anyone interested in the arts, where poetry readings, folk-singing and dancing and a range of other cultural activities regularly took place after I arrived. Before that, our home was often used as a meeting place for the Girl Guides, the Boy Scouts, the Red Cross society, the Lions Club, as well as for other community purposes.
In the mid-90’s I complained bitterly and at length in the press about the advent of loud, noisy music being played in the area, and several times had to go somewhere else to sleep. I had suffered a breakdown caused by overwork and stress and was supposed to avoid stress as much as possible. Though I had asked the police numerous times to please police the situation, no effective measures were ever enforced that brought any relief. In fact, it seemed the sympathies were more in favour of the deejays and the revellers who were causing my distress as I was asked “Why do you want to stop people’s fun?” I pointed out at the time, that loud, noisy music would surely become a major problem in the future.
For the past ten weeks or so I’ve been running an anti-noise campaign in Nevis and asking those who disturb others with loud music, to please have consideration for those of us who can’t stand it. No one seems to have paid the slightest notice. Last week I phoned the police several times to complain about the loud music near my sister’s home and ask them to do something about it. Eventually I went down to the Police station to reiterate my complaint since the music was still intruding on my sister’s premises about an hour after I’d made the original complaint. I asked again about what could be done and was shocked when one of the policemen addressed me with an air of annoyance and told me he had just come from the area and the music was being played “very, very softly.” He indicated that I was being unreasonable with my complaint.
I don’t know what that policeman was basing his assessment on. Perhaps in comparison to the volumes normally used for functions at the Cultural Complex, the sound seemed very, very quiet to him. But the homes in the area are not the Cultural Complex and the two massive offending speakers were facing it from just across the street. I ask anyone who knows anything about these types of booming speakers, whether it makes any sense to set them up to play “very, very softly.” It simply boggles the imagination. You don’t need a huge array of speakers if your intention is to play music softly.
I don’t mean to get into an argument with the police, but that music – especially the heavy bass tones, were coming right through the walls of my sister’s home, giving one of us a severe headache and preventing the other from concentrating on reading a book, listening to one’s own choice of music, or just enjoying a quite evening in one’s own environment. I get upset when someone makes light of my predicament with loud music. And there are many like me who suffer in varying degrees from its effects, some of us quite seriously. That is why I embarked this anti-noise campaign; not to spoil anybody else’s fun, but to preserve our health and sanity. Just because you don’t feel our pain, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t suffering. I ask you, how does disturbing people with loud music benefit the community?
On behalf of all of those who are negatively affected by loud music in our communities, I am asking the perpetrators, the police and all other relevant authorities, if you really care about the welfare of our people, take steps now to pipe things down to a level where the sound disturbs no one. Is that too much to ask? What values are being fostered in our community. Doesn’t anyone care?
Anyone wishing to join the anti-noise campaign should contact Amba Trott at 469-1424 or 765-3559.
