Sounds of the Morning
Sep 29th, 2007 by Alex
I’m a morning person. There’s little better than waking up at 7:30 to a soft and crisp breeze passing through one side of the house to the other. Its air conditioning, by Nature. I can hear birds chirping happily outside the window. This is my favorite time of year, where the price of comfort indoors is throwing on PJ pants and a hoody.
I’m rather serious about protecting my ability to hear. I feel like I’m alone in this most of the time.
I go to FAH shows often. They’re a good bunch of guys and put on a good show. I know their engineer pretty well. He likes a loud show, but mixes well. I generally wear plugs when I go to shows. Personally I just don’t see what all the extra volume is about. If you can hear and feel the mix, why should it have to be at levels that can cause hearing loss? I have several friends who are also fans, who will happily wear earplugs throughout the beginning acts but then remove them for the headliner. As if that someone makes them bigger fans and are able to take it. Never mind that the band — when not wearing in-ear monitors — wears earplugs when they’re up on stage, or that the lead singer used to provide me with earplugs when I arrived at a gig. Those facts alone ought to tell you something. I won’t hear complaints about plugs muddying the quality of a show. There are hi-fidelity earplugs that preserve sound quality without breaking the bank. If you think that $12 for a set isn’t worth it or that it doesn’t look cool to be wearing plugs all night, consider the cost of a cochlear implant that you might be wearing the rest of your life.
People my age just don’t get it.
It may be true that “you only live once,” but if it is you only get one set of ears. I have every intention of preserving my hearing so that I can hear the patter of little footsteps and the inquiring laughter of my future grandchildren, and continuing to hear those birds chirping every morning for years to come.
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