Englischkolumne
Noises Off!
When people think of pollution, the first image that comes to mind is all the litter we leave behind us in our lives or all the fumes coming out of our cars’ exhaust pipes. Noise pollution is not a priority (unless one is suffering from it!), and yet, it should be given priority because it can make you ill.
Due to a number of reasons too long to mention here, I have had to put on a pair of hearing aids as my hearing has been deteriorating for some time now. Although Iam not deaf by any means, I realized that this hearing loss was isolating me and took action to correct it. Having had them on during the first week (what an adjustment week!), I started getting massive migraines. I was told that this was my brain having difficulty adapting to hearing fully again. The shock of what I had been missing in my life was, needless to say, underwhelming! My computer keyboard sounded like someone hammering with an axe on plastic. My car sounds like it is throwing a hysterical fit when I park. I also had to turn down the volume on my TV for which my neighbours must be eternally thankful! All this made me realise how bad my hearing really was and how it was affecting those around me. On the other hand, it also made clear how much noise we have to put up with every day.
After that first week I was ready to give my hearing aids back and it was only after adjustments were made to them that I continued to wear them. Modern life is a noisy life. People are forced to hear a lot of unnecessary noise such as beeping delivery trucks when they reverse or horrible music while waiting on the phone. Other people have bigger problems. Take for example the Salzburg Airport. Undoubtedly it is an asset to the city and the region but a lot of people who live in the flight path of the planes obviously complain about the noise. Now the geographical conditions are such that one approach corridor is safer than the other but residents there are not happy and neither is the mayor of Freilassing over whose town the planes regularly ascend or descend. No easy solution is in sight although attempts have been made to defuse the situation. People living next to motorways also suffer from the continuous noise produced by heavy traffic. The Asfinag tries to counter this with those horrible sound absorbing walls which come in many colours and shapes and which hinder the view of the beautiful Austrian countryside.
It seems they are cheaper than sound absorbing asphalt which has been used in some cases and refused in others. True, no one has died from a sound absorbing wall but there must be other transparent walls available which do not add to the general tristesse.
Another issue is the question of fireworks on New Year’s Eve. These fireworks create air and noise pollution. Many young parents with newborn babies are not really pleased to have their child being woken up in the middle of the night by the noise. Many pets are also stressed out by the excessive noise. We used to have a cat that cowered in fear under the bed on that day and all the days leading up to it as many inconsiderate people feel the need to start shooting off private fireworks days before New Year’s Eve arrives. Elderly people also suffer from this kind of noise. I thought the idea of a laser show, which was proposed a couple of years ago, would have been developed further by now.
I don’t mind telling you that it is a relief to take off those pesky hearing aids in the evening when I pour myself a glass of wine and open a book, oblivious to all the noise in the world around me.