Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I am profoundly affected by sound and by noise.  "The older I get" the more easily annoyed I am  by sound, especially television.  My counselor of twenty-five years put it in perspective for me, though.  He said, "I'm sure that you are familiar with the phrase 'set in your ways'". I assured him that growing up in south Alabama I was very familiar with it.  He added, " 'Set in your ways' means that you progressively tolerate fewer and fewer things. You like what you like and don't like everything else."

This morning at the Nissan dealership I had two bad choices.  I could sit in the waiting room with extremely annoying daytime TV or I could sit in the showroom with a new TV on Fox News. I always take my Bose earbuds and sit in the showroom away from the TV.  This morning that was not possible. Either place I was sitting near a TV.  My music helps, but because of tinnitus there is only so much volume I can tolerate.   I sat in the waiting room, but the very happy cooking program bled through Tori Amos. I mean very happy. Those people were  happier than when the passengers on the Mayflower spied land.  Those people were happier than Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when the engines fired on the Lunar Excursion Module to return to the Command Module for the trip home. They were that happy.  And Fox News?  I would much prefer a root canal than listen to five minutes of Fox News.  When the history of our county is written it will show that Fox News was a primary contributor to the downfall of America. This morning I heard how "the media" is twisting current events and skewing it all against President Trump.  "The media"?  "The media?" What are you Fox News, a lemonade stand?

I finally found a spot that worked pretty well. I discovered that if I sat in a chair in the showroom away from Fox News and  toward the very happy people on the other TV, the noises somewhat cancelled each other out.  What I mean by that is since I couldn't understand the dialogue on either program, I was able to focus on the music.  Within a few  minutes my brain became a noise-cancellation processor and Tori Amos became my only friend. When the service manager told me the car was ready, I wasn't quite ready to leave.

I just finished reading a book called "Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us." As it turns out, it was exactly that, a book of science and not a self-help book.  The authors Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman chronicled study after study of things that we let bother us.  And possibly why they bother us. The first study was about hearing fingernails being pulled down a chalkboard. Their research went all the way back to cave man days and showed that our aversion to that noise at one time was a part of our very survival.  Our annoyance  to that horrible sound is literally in our DNA.

For the record, put me in a room with four people pulling their fingernails down a chalkboard before you leave me in a room with a cooking show or Fox News. And it's okay if I'm in the room getting a root canal. My dentist is happy, but he's not that happy.

So am I "set in my ways"?  Not quite. But I'm getting there fast.