Some peace and quiet please

I realise that I complain too much but then again, if I don’t, how will you know some of the annoying things most people are too polite to mention? I’m not a rude person –well I do tend to lose it sometimes - but in general I’m a reasonably nice person. That is why I make it my business to lay out these maddening traits other civilised people have to put up with.

Thursday, August 16, 2012
Rachel Garuka

I realise that I complain too much but then again, if I don’t, how will you know some of the annoying things most people are too polite to mention? I’m not a rude person –well I do tend to lose it sometimes - but in general I’m a reasonably nice person. That is why I make it my business to lay out these maddening traits other civilised people have to put up with. I have never understood why some people speak on phone as if they are addressing the nation. Why do they find it necessary to shout like that? A guy sat next to me once in a taxi heading to town and subjected me and others to a conversation so loud, I wanted to tell him he would lose his voice eventually if he kept that up.I don’t expect anyone to whisper but honestly, unless the person on the other line is partially deaf (and if this is the case I recommend texting), shouting is just deplorable. Much as I love my sense of hearing, I don’t love noise forcefully shoved through my ears. Speaking of noise, if you have never had a noisy neighbour then count your blessings. There was a neighbour of mine who not only made it her business to find out what I was about; she also had a fetish for noise.The woman would wake up early and blast her radio or whatever the hell she had, with no consideration for others whatsoever! Many times the sound of this ‘alarm clock’ was ‘Stamina’ or ‘Mama Rhoda’…nauseating me even further.In the evenings, the entire neighbourhood was punished with the sound of her even louder guests. Complaints were sent to the local authority and since she loved her noise, moving to another place where it would be tolerated seemed like a better option. Good riddance! If I want loud noise, there is always a nightclub or market to go to. I don’t appreciate this noise spreading to the corners of my house or furthest points of my ears for that matter. Now I understand why teachers whooped our bottoms because of noise. If possible, I could have silenced that noisy girl with a bamboo stick. Hypothetically, if you are anything like this, what you do or say is your business – try not to keep me informed unless it has something to do with me. If your walls are not sound proof, please oh please, control the volume –Stamina is so 10 minutes ago!