Letter to the Editor: Tune inward, outward
BY Timothy Hartsfield, Blue Community(Pittsburg County)
Thursday, February 07, 2013
2/07/13 at 7:22 AM
I read with interest the Feb. 4 blog-based article by June Straight concerning the protection of young ears from the perils of car radio.
Straight alludes to having grown up during the 1990s. I've got a few decades on her and for that reason believe myself able to respond from a slightly different perspective. The noise that passes for music today has nothing on the heyday of microphone-munching gibberish-based rock and roll.
There are people I'm around who appear unable to function unless, in their own words, "I've got to have my tunes in my head." Sure enough, they aren't able to function well unless full of tunes. Supposed multitasking is a proven farce.
Here's a radical concept: Try silence when driving. If you cannot stand silence, talk to the kid perched on the rear deck. (Oops, times changed: Kid strapped backwards into the anti-ejection cocoon; I'm as surprised as anyone that most of my generation survived.) Be cognizant of your own thoughts. Spend quiet time driving - actually thinking - not saturated with unneeded, unhealthy, ear-blasting, deadening noise. Interact with yourself and the kid with you. Turn off and tune inward and outward. You might be surprised by the positive results.
A vignette as proof of practice: Cleaning the truck dashboard during the holidays the spouse hit a button and out popped a CD titled, "Welcome to Your New 2006 Truck." We didn't know it was there and were momentarily befuddled by the controls. Artificial thought-cancellation devices are overrated.
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