I dont wanna hear it!!!

If there is one thing I cant stand, its people that disrespect other people. One thing that really gets me fired up are the assholes who need attention so badly that they have to play their goddamn music at levels that arent even suitable for the human ear. Why? What is the point? Do you want to become deaf at age 15? Are you that much of a loser that you need people to pay attention to you even if its because they find you annoying and want to rip your jugular out? I really dont get it...

When I was 16, I had just got my license and I liked a lot of rap music. However, being from a small town that consisted of 99.8% white people with nice upbringings, .1% hispanics, and .1% jews/blacks, I never got into the whole "lets play rap music as loud as possible" thing because it just didn't fit my style and its surroundings. My friends loved to blast music in the car and I place about 99% of the blame on them as to why I always ask people to repeat themselves cuz Im not sure what the hell they said from being half deafened at an early age. Sure, I liked that music, but I didnt feel the necessity to project my likings upon people who either a.) could care less, or b.) didnt want to hear that bullshit. For me, it was a respect thing. I will respect you and not subject you to the music I feel like listening to and you respect me by not judging me based on my listening preferences. And whattya know... A few years later I really grew a large distaste for rap music, but mainly because it became a bunch of bullshit with no core to it at all. Dont get me wrong, this isnt about rap music alone. Its about all the assholes who drive around playing their music at levels that are unsuitable for most eardrums, no matter what genre it is.

Im serious when I say that Im investing in a company that develops trendy hearing aids for 16yr olds. This shit has gotten out of control. I was driving home from work the other day, getting fired up by listening to some Rolling Stones before going out to pound some brew and whiskey with a buddy. I had my recent favorite, "Cant you hear me knockin?" on the tuner at a decible level suitable for my car only, when all of a sudden Paco and his 1996 Ford Taurus rolls up blasting some latino bullshit that was making his trunk and doors rattle like a mo' fo'. Now Ive gone from fired up in a good mood to fired up in a bad mood, and I aint even drunk yet. I really dont get the whole point of this bullshit? When did it become a requisite for coolness that you had to annoy everyone in a 1 mile radius with you obnoxious music? And when did i become cool to drive a car thats worth $1000 and put a $2500 stereo system in it and make it sound like total shit? We as a society need to lose this bullshit right now.

My frustration peaked today on a flight from Miami to Charlotte. Im sitting next to some dude that feels it necessary to tell me his life story about living in South America (I dont give a shit), commuting to Washington DC (see also - I dont give a shit) and flying in general (ooh look, we're on a plane... whoop dee frickin doo!!) All things aside, he seemed like a nice guy and one that I certainly could dominate in the quest to gain the middle armrest (which I totally annihilated him on, giving him maybe a total of .5 milliseconds of comfort for his left arm...rookie). Then, as Im reading a nice article in the sky mag, he starts listening to his iPod... Not only is he listening to spanish bullshit at 7am (which I find hard to take really... who listens to salsa at 7am? Dont you kinda need to be in party mode for that music? Or at least dancing? This is something about the Latin culture that I dont understand and have little desire to actually understand...) Well, its now 8am and we've got another hour or so before we get to NC and he is blaring this shit into his ears. Im wondering if he even has eardrums left at this point. Im enraged, but not because its bothering me and my quiet time, but more because its showing a total lack of respect for everyone within a 4 seat radius. I collect my thoughts, suppress my rage, and decide its time to ask him to turn the shit down... So, I tap him and say, "COuld you do me a favor and turn that down please" while giving him the "you better do what I say or you may find out that a human as well as a small carry-on item can fit under the seat" look. He respectfully obliged and got a little red in the face from embarrassment (probably because he was listening to total pussy music at this point) and turned down the bullshit spanish crap. I felt a wave of silent applause erupt around me. One dude gave me the, "thank god you did that man, I was going insane" look. That pretty much justified it for me.

I guess the point of this whole rambling is this... If you want to listen to music, do so at a respectable level. I dont wanna hear your bullshit and neither does anyone else. Youre not going to gain any sort of positive attention from playing music loud, youre just gonna continue to look like a total asshole. Take your loud ass music and shove it!