THERE’S ’s the usual (though I am teasingly tempted to replace it with ‘official’) meditative drone music loop that’s clearly intended to set the mood. It is carried through the air, wafting through all the dimmed little rooms up to the waiting area where you and three other strangers sit.
If this were a Buddhist temple, the only lacking ingredient would have been the repetitive om-om-om whispered chants of monks and that would have completed the already-incensed atmosphere.
Suddenly, a shrill whistle from a referee breaks the mood of the peaceful evening and immediately your eyes impulsively dart to the source of the intrusion. One of your waiting companions has decided he has had enough of playing on his phone and swiped to open the YouTube page to watch a PBA game. On speaker. Out loud.
A flood of what-to-dos race and tumble through your head as you crazily struggle to manage your emotions. Should you gently nudge and signal him to tone down his volume or in a diplomatically-laced request, ask him to do the same? Or, if you were really hulked-out by it all and just about ready to throw caution to the winds, you could ask defiantly, DON’T YOU HAVE AN EARPHONE? I would need a Tylenol.
Truth is, situations such as these, I have struggled with always. Many a time, I just find myself ending up with a quizzical look on my face and staring at the supposed culprit. What’s going on in the minds of these people?
At other times, I have even churned out crazy thoughts like repairing all my quarantine-period hoard of earphones just idly lying around and handing each one to those people with speakers blaring loudly inside the passenger rides, halls or buildings, as a form of public service.
Then at more times though I hate to admit, I find myself asking, is it wrong to even think this way? Am I just being too overly fuzzy? I know we have been told many times about keeping one’s nose out of other people’s business, but as we grow older, we too learn, what about being considerate of other people’s needs too? In an L300 air-conditioned passenger vehicle for example, filled with weary office workers at six in the evening, isn’t it inconsiderate when you play your favorite playlist out loud just because you want some to hear “sounds”?
While many people might label this as being part of that fancy sounding word, etiquette, I think it’s way beyond that. Having a considerate perspective is even different. It starts with being aware beforehand what the other might be going through, before launching into a full offensive of what you want to do or say. Difficult, I know but as a people, I know we’ve got to start somewhere. Till then, if you happen to meet someone playing something on speaker, think of what I said. My offer on free earphones still stands. While supply lasts.
