Pump out the Volume

Today for lunch my colleague S and I went to a restaurant on the second
floor of a nearby office building. We grabbed a wide table in the corner
by a large window and ordered a few dishes to share: green salad, fried
fish and steak fillet. As we ate, we talked about the massive street
construction project going on slowly-but-surely down below. From the
second floor I could see that they'd made significant progress
transforming an old tire dump into a park with a fountain in the center
of a lush green lawn.
As we were finishing our meal, someone turned up the volume on the
television hung on one wall. There was a soccer game on and the voice of
the commentator became excruciatingly loud. We soon gave up speaking at
all and just motioned for the check. On the way back to the office, S
said that long ago he noticed this habit of blaring the volume on the
television in public spaces. I asked him if he had any idea why, since
the people in the back of the restaurant were certainly within earshot
at even a quarter of the volume, but at these proportions, even the guy
operating the bulldozer on the street below could probably follow the
game. S guesses that they probably enjoy the excitement of having the
volume turned up so loud that they feel as if they are actually at the
stadium.
As a music lover, I can appreciate the excitement of loud,
speakers-stacked-to-the-ceiling concerts. I can revel in an explosive
action scene while sitting in a surround-sound equipped theater. I
recognize that the roar of a crowded stadium cheering for the home team
can be exhilarating. However, I have witnessed Ethiopians watch
political deliberations on the news with the volume at a masochistic
decibel level that conjures up the feeling of having the hair on the
back of your neck stand on end and then jump to its death, your head try
to submerge itself into the quiet of your own chest cavity, and your ear
drums attempt to escape the madness only to get lopped in half with a
guillotine upon exiting your head. Personally, the blast of a
politician's turbulent proclamations or sports commentators cacophonous
clatter at a volume not heard since Gladiators battled in the Colosseum
provides no feeling of euphoria whatsoever.