Pipe down, loudmouth
Our resident cranky lady, Janine Edwards, is back, and wants you to quiet down.
Darling Edmontonians, we have a problem. And that problem is noise. You see, our delicate ears cannot handle the terrifying noise that motorcycles make.
Shut-up, ambulance!
Living where I do, it makes sense. All too often, they rip through my neighbourhood, startling myself and my little old lady neighbour next door. They are ridiculously loud, and I was more than happy to hear that the city is telling them to quiet down.
But then, I saw that people are now complaining the sirens on emergency vehicles are too loud. Where do we live? Communist Russia?
The sound of emergency sirens are too loud? You would have hated bomb raid sirens during WW2. The common theme here: sirens save lives.
I live near a fire station, and I’ll admit… Occasionally the fire trucks will awaken me in the night. But rather than get angry at them I consider this: that emergency vehicle is potentially SAVING SOMEONE’S LIFE.
So maybe it jolts you out of your light sleep, but that emergency vehicle is on its way to put out a fire, stop crime, or give much needed medical attention to someone. Are you really that selfish that you’ll whine about the siren sound?
Other people on the road need to know the good guys are on their way, so that they can make way for them. Those precious seconds mean something in situations which can be life or death. So when I hear someone whining about the decibel levels of sirens, I want to push the mute button on them.
Rather than complain about the heroes, let’s stop a real noise menace! I’m talking about drunks and “woo girls.” I’m sick of trying to go to bed and hearing drunk people having their loud conversations on street corners. Of girls ‘wooooing’, and of overly loud laughter. I’m tired of waking up to the party crowd, honking horns, and arguments. Where’s the noise crackdown on them?
I want the loud mouth partiers to shut-up. Is that too much to ask? Go home! It’s a Wednesday night!
Is it too much to ask that instead of punishing the police and emergency vehicles – we give emergency responders duct tape for the jerks who wake me up, while they describe some rad thing that just happened at the club? Or they can taze them. I don’t care, I just want some sleep.
Feel free to use your sirens on the way over to taze the loud drunks.
Edmonton Just Got A Whole Lot More Cars-Driving-In-A-Circle
By Derjis Sprongfeld (@Derjis/Bereits Design)
So, the Edmonton Indy rolls into town this weekend (get it? ‘rolls’? cars? you get it.). Three days of non-stop, world class racing action! Not really my thing, but I can see how other people might get into it. It’s fast. You’re outside. There’s beer. I’m not here to judge! Millions of people like NASCAR, and Indy racing is head and shoulders above NASCAR.
But holy cow, is the Indy LOUD! If you’re headed out this weekend, make sure you bring earplugs. And your butterscotch candies. And your walker. And your thermos of Ovaltine (because of how old people wear earplugs whenever they leave the house because the world today is a loud and scary place).
The cars fired up at 8 a.m.this morning, just as I was leaving for work. I live just north of downtown, maybe 10-12 blocks away from the airport, and work on Jasper Ave and 102 Street. I could still hear them by the time I made it to work. According to my trusty Google Maps, the noise traveled almost FOUR KILOMETERS. Arg. No sleeping in for me this weekend.
Are any of you headed out to the Indy? You’ll be paying for it one way or the other , so you might as well get something out of it…
That’s your Indy, Edmonton!
