Comments on: Surviving Noise Pollution in Nicaragua

By: Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:24:31 +0000

Here’s the answer to the noisy boombox plague:
Ask some poor wretch if he’d like an easy ten- or twenty-dollar bill. Point out the noisy lowlife to him and say:
“This money is yours if you can figure out something so I won’t have to hear that guy’s boombox again. Don’t kill him or beat him up. But do whatever you have to do to silence that Hollywoodized creep!”
Believe me, this is VERY effective. Heard of the VAB’s? I’m talking about the “Vigilantes Against Boomboxes.” Or you can start your own vigilante group.
Reactions, anyone?

Carlos

By: richardarghiris

richardarghiris — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:44:15 +0000

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comment. I agree, misery makes for good stories. And perhaps suffering is the root of all creativity?

Regarding intrusion on personal spaces, I’m with Banksy on this one. Everyone complains about the grafitti in urban environments, but no one ever thinks twice about the giant advertising boards everywhere.

Aren’t those just as nasty and offensive as a teenager with a spray can? Don’t they too amount to a kind of pollution – environmental and psychological?

Now they’ve got public televisions shoving consumerism down our throats 24-7. This is a disturbing and aggressive development. No wonder we have all gone insane.

Thanks again,

Richard

By: Steven Roll

Steven Roll — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:29:16 +0000

Perhaps the only silver lining within bad travel experiences is that it makes for good stories. You’ve done a nice job of capitalizing on your misery.

Loud music is the most obvious example of the distractions that vie for our attention each day. But there are other forms of media that are starting to do this too. For example, TVs are starting to show up in semi-public spaces like airports, hotel lobbies, and even the back seat of taxi cabs.

While some may see this as a welcome distraction. Others say it’s an invasion of their personal space.