Talk About A Hostile Work Environment

An e-mailer who wishes to remain anonymous (for obvious reasons) writes to comment on my recent post on music at work:

Your "Leading Economic Indicator" post really struck home with me, because I work at a company in Saint Paul. The owner there insists on piping music into the front office over the P.A. There is SO much more about your comment on "subjecting a workforce to 'spirit-crushing' music" than you realize, Chad...

When I came back to work there in February (I had worked there previously, 1995-98), they were quietly piping in Minnesota Public Radio's classical music service. Quietly, and unobtrusively. Fine. But then, the owner turned up the volume, and switched to "Cities 97." And now, we're back to the Lite Rock I endured the first time I worked there. It's even worse than before, because they're putting in Shania Twain songs into their narrow rotation. I actually put in earplugs one afternoon so that I could concentrate on my work, but I got scolded by my boss, the owner's son.

Almighty God, and thousands upon thousands of doctors, oncologists, and cancer patients, all know of the dangers of second-hand cigarette smoke. It is REALLY too bad there is no corollary for "background music." I now wake up in the morning with demented, minor-key versions of Celine Dion tunes going through my head. I should be able to enjoy Scarlatti, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Smokey Robinson at home in the evening, but the Chinese Water Torture-effect of Lite Rock (with the same @#$%--- play list every day) leaves me just wanting nothing but quiet. And that's sad, IMHO.

Steven Halpern is the author of an excellent quote that you can probably appreciate, and it would go VERY well with your post:

"When Mozart was composing at the end of the eighteenth century, the city of Vienna was so quiet that fire alarms could be given verbally, by a shouting watchman mounted on top of Saint Stefan's Cathedral. In twentieth-century society, the noise level is such that it keeps knocking our bodies out of tune and out of their natural rhythms. This ever-increasing assault of sound upon our ears, minds, and bodies adds to the stress load of civilized beings trying to live in a highly complex environment."

I left the office three hours ago, but Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight," and Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" are now going through my head. I think I need to vomit...