Calm

It is now illegal in the United States for a television commercial to be louder than the actual program. No more grabbing the remote to turn down the volume (or mute it if you are me) when a commercial comes on. Who knows, but if the commercials are at a reasonable volume, maybe I'll even listen to how there is a giant used car tent sale this weekend and this weekend only (until next weekend.) The CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act is a wonderful thing.

I hate noise for the sake of noise, loudness for the sake of just being loud. Fun noise is good. Party noise is great. Music noise is the best. Bad noise, mean noise and unnecessary noise really bothers me. I like quiet. I love being with a friend and we are so close that we don't even have to talk. We just enjoy companionable silence. No reason to fill up the quiet with unnecessary noise.

I hate it when people raise their voices in anger. I have had enough of that to last a couple of lifetimes. I tend not to listen when people escalate like that. I turn them down. I mute them. It's not the way to get through to me. Not at all.

I am sorry that some people have so little power that they need to bully and bluster and scream and yell. I am sorry they have so little personal authority that the only way they can get anyone to listen to them is to be really loud. I am sorry for them, and sorry for the people who have to listen to them.

I steer clear of those kinds of people, and I certainly am not inviting them into my living room by way of the television. So this is a good thing, This CALM Act. I like it. I like it a lot. It makes me happy.

Susan