Silence!!!

[Warp Coil]

I dislike silence. Not that I like a lot of irritating noises, mind you, but absolute silence freaks me out. When things are too quiet, I begin to hear all of the small, obscure noises (the sound of the house settling, a random creak, a little ping, a small thud, etc.) that drive me insane and cause anxiety. What was that? And that? And THAT? Having the TV on or music in the background solves that issue for me. I must sleep with "white noise" of some sort and it's usually a DVD on repeat to get me through the night. I also really like playing music while I read. Typically a soundtrack or some sort of instrumental score. I'm already casting, directing and shooting a movie inside my head while I read. Might as well throw in the soundtrack.

 

[Mary Ann]

I lived in a medical district for a few years so in addition to the usual city noises, there was the added sound of sirens at all hours. I quickly grew accustomed to it and I honestly miss the noise of the city now.

I lived in Thunder Bay for a year, right opposite the freight yard where the diesels used to idle. During the autumn the grain trains ran non-stop and diesels and trucks/cars would be coupled and uncoupled 24 hours a day. It was incredibly loud, and I wondered how, as a light sleeper, I'd ever be able to sleep through all that noise. One week later I was doing exactly that. Sometimes the coupling of the train wouldn't be smooth and the building where I lived would shake from the impact. I stopped noticing that, too. It became white noise to me. However, I could never sleep through noisy human neighbours, oddly enough.

 

[mimic]

Today in class the heater shut off, making the room suddenly much quieter, and the class reacted like someone had shot off a gun. There's so much white noise all the time that when it's gone it's bizarre.

 

[Me-Ike]

I will construct for you a magnificent silence room, to which you hold the only key.

How sneakily you construct yourself back into my heart. Can I take the room with me on the train? Because it's just not charming when, like this morning, Rosamond and Fred Vincy's tête-á-tête at the breakfast table is underscored by OOMPH OOMPH YOU'RE SO SEXY OOMPH.

It's interesting how the noises differ that people here say they can tolerate. Rhythmic sounds no, background chatter yes, ... . I wonder if it has something to do with what we got used to when growing up (or, like auntiehill, spending lots of time with a certain noise level). Little Holdfast just never had a clock placed near his crib?

Today in class the heater shut off, making the room suddenly much quieter, and the class reacted like someone had shot off a gun. There's so much white noise all the time that when it's gone it's bizarre.

Reminds me of that scene in Michael Crichton's Timeline; everyone was weirded out at first after they had travelled back in time. Because it was so silent!
I always wanted to test that.

 

[An Officer]

There are places in the world where it's exactly like going back in time, but they're not that silent either, when we stop, nature takes over. Nature is far kinder to the ears and nerves though, usually. I'd rather sleep with the sound of crickets and foxes than police sirens and drunks!

 

[Holdfast]

Little Holdfast just never had a clock placed near his crib?

Probably even kicked in utero to complain about the heartbeat...