Go to night club if you want to hear loud music
IWENT to a local pub the other day to enjoy a reasonably priced drink after the shock of having to pay British and Canadian pub prices in rand. My friend and I sat down and ordered drinks, but soon realised any conversation would be impossible. There were two television screens on the go – one showing a football match, and the other broadcasting a rugby match, both at full volume. I had to yell at the waitress twice to get her to bring us the bill.
We drank up quickly, paid and left to look for somewhere quieter.
Obviously the regular patrons enjoyed the noise in that pub, and that’s fine as far as I am concerned, but I do like to chat when I am enjoying drink or a meal.
I’m often puzzled by the sounds restaurant owners provide for their customers. Why is it necessary to have loud music while you eat?
Why, also, is it so often inappropriate music? I have dined in Indian restaurants with modern rock music playing. Why not add to the ambience by playing quiet Indian music in the background, if you must have noise?
Surely, an Italian restaurant should add to the authenticity of the place by playing Italian music in the background. There’s certainly no shortage of great Italian music.
As far as I’m concerned, the best background noise in any eatery is the noise of dishes clattering in the kitchen, knives and forks clinking on plates and wine glasses being touched in friendly salute.
I may have found the answer to this dilemma. People eat more when they have noise in their ears. Restaurateurs love this, but it has contributed to a worldwide epidemic of obesity.
A study conducted at Colorado State University in the US showed that noise makes you eat more.
They fitted students with earphones while they ate pretzels.
Those with loud noises piped into their ears consumed an average of four pretzels each during the experiment. Those with quieter earphones ate only 2.8 pretzels in the same time.
We can use this information in any of several ways. If we want to eat less and lose weight, head for somewhere quiet.
If you own a restaurant and want your customers to eat more, turn up the volume.
I wonder, though, whether it isn’t all about hearing ourselves eat. If you eat a pretzel or slice of toast in silence, it makes quite a lot of noise in your head. Your body obviously gets the message loud and clear: “Food coming down!”
On the other hand, if you can’t hear yourself chew, you’re probably into the second course before your stomach wakes up and says: ”Hey! Who sneaked this load of stuff in here?”
Whatever the reason, I prefer to eat in relative silence.
Last Laugh
Two men were chatting in a bar. “I used to be an efficiency expert,” said one.
“I watched my wife make breakfast every morning and analysed what she did.
“Then I said, ‘Honey, instead of making lots of trips between the fridge, the stove and the sink, why not plan it so you just do one trip in each direction?’” “And did it work?” asked his friend. “Hell, yes!” said the expert. “It used to take her 20 minutes to make breakfast. Now it takes me 10.”