06-07-2025
‘What?' ‘I said: This restaurant is too loud!' ‘What?'
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When my sister lived in Paris, she would say, as she cautioned me to lower my voice, 'You can always tell the Americans: They're loud.'
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We need to suffer a quiet moment in public every once in a while. We need to turn the volume down. We need to share space with others politely. Respect has resonance too.
Christine Cluney
West Newbury
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The number one solution to noisy restaurants is to allow servers to turn down the music when requested.
About three-quarters of the time I've found they will do so. The relief is immediate. People don't have to talk as loud and can once again hear one another. The other quarter of the time the server has said they're not allowed to adjust the volume.
In that case, take action. Ask to speak to the manager, for a start. Then, if there's no relief, say you are leaving. I have walked out of restaurants where I can't hear myself think and no accommodation was made to my complaint.
More people need to speak up to, ahem, make their voices heard.
Donna Sullivan
Brookfield
Chris Berdik's
generated nearly 170 comments from readers. Following is an edited sampling:
Do the restaurant a favor and go on a quiet night. (Middleground)
How many diners say to themselves before arriving, 'Boy, I hope this place is playing '90s rock music'? For me, 100+ customers in a restaurant are going to be loud on their own. (Sooner57)
The article that needed to be written. (Graf_299)
I've come to the conclusion that Americans are just deeply uncomfortable with quiet. (Are we afraid of our thoughts? Do we have no thoughts?) Fenway Park and the Garden are the same. I've given up on the Red Sox due to the incessant noise and clamor, even between innings. Used to be you could chat with your friend between innings, but not anymore. It's just another kind of social isolation. (visionsofneal)
I recently asked my doc for a hearing test because I can never hear what people say in restaurants. I passed! (Lusmom)
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About five years ago, I stepped through the door of one of my favorite restaurants and was assaulted by the new, much louder noise level that had become normal for the place since its remodel. I left. When I got home, I set up a spreadsheet and entered $75 as a deposit of what I estimated dinner with tip would have cost me that night. As of today, there's $2,775 in my Fun Fund account. In a year or so, I'm off to Hawaii. (White Middle Age Gay Guy)
