Well, we are anticipating the arrival of the cicadas. That should be a noise "treat." But at least it is natural. But what about other stuff, the stuff that humans make and impose on ourselves?

The UPS truck that stopped by a little while ago was properly muffled. Yet, it was very noisy just with the mechanical noise of the engine. Same with the construction trucks, front end loaders, and such. And lawnmowers and leaf blowers. And so on. And radios from cars that you KNOW that the person in the car is killing their ears because it is hurting YOUR ears from 50 feet away.

Some restaurants have some sort of soundscape that varies from somewhat soft to you-can't-talk-over-the-sound. Choice of soundscape varies, too--sometimes classical music (OK, I guess), sometimes pop, and in the Indian place we like to go, Indian music(!). But volumes vary widely. (Is this imposed on the joint by some suit in central office, or chosen by the manager?) Some pubs just have so much voice noise that I don't know how anyone can hear the person next to them, much less have a conversation and exchange phone numbers.

Emergency vehicles get louder so that you can hear them over the ever-improving sound insulation in your car because of which they must be still louder so that you can hear them, and then you have to get better sound insulation in your car to keep the noise out, and so on.

Some restaurants have accoustics the amplify the soundscape to a roar. And many places where people congregate, even medical waiting rooms have visual noise that you can't avoid, and that the staff get upset if you try to turn it off, even if noone is listening to/watching it. And in many stores these days, we are "serenaded" by whatever they play, mostly sales promotions--blue light special in aisle 6, etc.

Some of these sounds are "merely" annoying. Some are downright dangerous to the ears and cause permanent hearing loss, in addition to making those hearing it more jumpy.

If one complains about any of these, does that make one a "sound nazi?" Or are we "allowed" to complain and insist on a softer environment? Well, I have my own answer, of course. That is that we are absolutely entitled to a softer soundscape. It is even a Libertarian issue in that we have a right to not be assaulted, and these assaults are inescapable. Anyone care to comment?

Saul