In contrast, we lived overseas for a few years in a country where the culture insisted that the louder the activity the more fun. So every store in the mall was trying to blast the others out of the water. And when your neighbors had a party, it had to be cranked. Frequently, we would go out to dinner and not be able to hear the conversation at our own table because the music was too loud to even hear yourself think. It was not my definition of fun! Talk about culture shock! It is so good to be home. It is still noisy, but nothing in comparison.

Our fridge and freezer stay in a room away from the rest of the house, I can’t stand to listen to them. We don’t own a TV, my wife listens to the radio occasionally but usually the only time we have anything “playing” it is a preaching tape in our little tape player.

I can’t hardly stand to go to most stores anymore. Which makes the fact that I currently work at a national chain retail drugstore very difficult.

The manager at the store I work at plays the music so loud that I literally often cannot understand what the customers right in front of me are saying!

I asked him one day if we could turn the music down. His answer was, “When the volume is a little too loud, people buy more cards.” All I could do was stand there open-mouthed.