Summary

The author expresses frustration with the constant noise and lack of silence in Santa Monica, California, and questions the necessity of excessive stimulation and loudness in American culture.

Abstract

The author, a resident of Santa Monica, describes the city's pervasive noise issues, from blaring mall music and loud cars to disruptive garbage trucks and construction work. Despite the high cost of living and the presence of the ocean, the author feels overwhelmed by the cacophony of daily life. The piece reflects on the author's love for the U.S. despite the sensory overload and contrasts the situation with quieter, more environmentally conscious places like Copenhagen and London. The author suggests that the incessant noise may indicate deeper societal issues, such as insecurity and a lack of contentment among Americans.

Opinions

The author believes that the excessive noise in Santa Monica, from music to car engines, is unnecessary and indicative of a broader societal issue.
There is a critique of the American obsession with loud cars and the need for constant stimulation, suggesting it reflects insecurity.
The author is critical of the Tesla Supercharger installation in their neighborhood, highlighting the noise pollution it causes despite the general lack of environmental concern in Los Angeles.
The piece implies that Americans may be uncomfortable with silence and possibly fear their own thoughts, as evidenced by the need for constant noise.
The author expresses a preference for the quieter, more environmentally friendly approaches to urban living found in cities like Copenhagen and London.
The author's experience with a construction worker's rude response to a complaint about noise suggests a lack of community consideration and respect.
The author humorously suggests that the noise level in Santa Monica is so high that people might miss it if it were absent, as indicated by the husband's joke about installing honking buttons.

Can Everyone Just Shut the Hell Up?

I’m talking to you, America, and I mean it this time

Editorial Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions and perspectives of the author. It does not represent the publication’s point of view. Illumination keeps a neutral perspective on this topic to allow diverse voices.

My Danish husband and I live in a small city attached to a big city. It’s hard to explain but it’s where Los Angeles meets the ocean. It’s called Santa Monica and it has its own city hall, cops, and a fire department. It also has sidewalks and good (well, better) bike lanes, as well as any shop and restaurant within walking distance.

We live here because we don’t like to drive and we need good public schools for my Danish stepdaughters. House prices in Santa Monica are some of the highest in the nation but we got a good deal during Covid, so we’re hanging in.

We also like the ocean even though to walk to it you have to cross a highway and step over a few homeless people on your way. That’s what Santa Monica is all about.

Still, despite the insane prices of everything from housing to eating out to pre-schools for our two-year-olds, I wake up every morning and convince myself I love it here and that I’m lucky to be here.

That is until I step outside.

No matter how far to the edge of the country you go, you’re still there.

I love the U.S. for what it’s given me, but at this stage of my life, I have one request: can everything and everyone just shut the hell up?

Yesterday, we went to a local mall, half-outside half-inside kinda thing. Music was blasting so loud I couldn’t hear my husband complain about it. It turned out they took their regular must-have soundtrack to another level by hiring a ridiculous-looking DJ to play obnoxious tunes for the shoppers.

It was unbearable. We left.

What is wrong with silence, I ask you?

Does it make you think?

Are you scared of your thoughts?

Healthy-minded people should be capable of doing their shopping without artificial stimulation. If you aren’t, please, see a therapist.

I walked to a farmers market on a Saturday morning, exhausted but trying my best to enjoy the sun and the plants around me.

Until a jack-ass in a “cool” car drove by and deafened me with his loud exhaust pipe farts.

And then another one. And another one.

By the time I reached the farmers market, I was sweaty and anxious as hell.

Why do you need to prove to everyone just how cool you are by being the loudest?

And why this U.S. obsession with loud cars?

A well-balanced person should be able to get through their day without having to prove anything to anyone.

Just how many insecure and unhinged people do we have in America?

Today, I take my daughter to her pre-school and walk home suppressing the tears of a first-time mother watching her child grow up. I count my blessings. I try to smile.

That is until a garbage truck screeches to a halt next to me and proceeds to rattle the trash cans with noise so loud it hurts my brain. He moves back and forth, beeping and shrieking, as to rub it in.

I’m instantly back to where I started: anxious and frustrated.

During my summer in England, I wondered how they managed to collect rubbish so quietly. “So there IS a civilized way of doing it?” I asked myself.

Luckily, our windows overlook an alley that overlooks the back of a retirement house, so garbage and delivery trucks come by daily, including Saturdays.

Then there’s a homeless guy who lives in the wall crack across from my step-daughter’s window and yells at his demons every night.

Needless to say, we keep our windows shut during the day.

It would be a shame if we actually had any fresh air outside. But this being Los Angeles, it’s not a problem.

Wait, there’s more.

The much-loved by American show-offs Tesla decided to build a “Tesla Supercharger” at the end of our alley.

I never knew it was possible to hate a car brand until this summer.

For the first couple of months, it was okay, simply an inconvenience. But then the noise started. The loud unbearable daily noise that never fails to put me on edge.

But hey, what’s a few months of my life if the rich folks get to charge their electric cars?

Ironically, most people in LA simply don’t give a crap about the environment.

If you want to see some real green efforts, go to Denmark’s capital Copenhagen where bikes dominate cars. Or London, where you have to pay to drive into the city, and you can get a ticket if you leave your engine on while stopping.

Build more public transport instead of car chargers. Duh.

But then where would people in LA brush their teeth if not in their cars?

To make sure we have 360-degree noise pollution, the building on our left has been doing seemingly useless improvements for three months now, waking us up on a few occasions. I said nothing.

Until today, when the sound of metal drilling we’ve been enduring for a week startled the hell out of me on an already-bad day.

After a short back-and-forth with a worker and an inquiry into the time frame of these “improvements,” I was told to go fuck myself. Ah, the good old U.S.

This weekend, my Danish husband proposed to install honking buttons on Santa Monica’s intersections “in case it gets too quiet.”

Because people do love a good honk here.

I wish I could tell you I’m just having a bad day (which I am). But if a beach-side city in the U.S. needs to make this much noise just to get through the day, it’s bad news for the country.

Do most people really not know any different?

Stay classy, Santa Monica.