Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Quiet

The past week or so I have been in several waiting areas and have noticed the ever constant presence of a television blaring in the background. Two of these waiting areas were in doctors' offices and I can't help but wonder the health implications of all the noise in our environment. During the 90 minute wait I had in a doctor's office today I heard at least three loud ring tones and the accompanying conversations once they were answered. A small TV was in the alcove of this particular office and several people were scanning the channels - thankfully one person turned the volume down so only the people close by could hear it. I also heard several loud conversations about people's health conditions etc. - do people realize how loud their voices are sometimes? One of the ongoing battles I had on my former job site was the playing of a radio at the nurses' unit. There is so much noise in the hospital we can't control - monitors and other equipment, telephones and pagers, overhead announcements.....the radio blaring just added to the chaos. Additionally, the radio was mounted on the top of a large cart that was often in the way and had to be pushed to the side to access needed supplies. Well, it was a battle I lost and I left that unit - not just because of the radio even though it was symbolic of the problems on that unit...... On a related note, I read about John Francis and his 17 year silence in his quest to listen more completely - listening more fully is a goal for me - along with decreasing the noise pollution in my environment.... ....meanwhile the lovely clicking sound of knitting needles producing yet another pair of socks....