I need peace and quiet

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I have always had sensory issues that have made life more unpleasant for me than I would have liked. I am easily distracted by little things that most people either don't notice or they can somehow block out of their attention. The more stimuli the more dazed I become. I have to get away to find peace and quiet to recover, but it isn't always easy. Sometimes one's living circumstances leave much to be desired, as when one is stuck living somewhere with noisy neighbors but one cannot afford to move. I did have some run-ins with my current neighbors the past couple of years, but they more or less keep things down to a reasonable level most of the time now.

I share that background to introduce this song where I sincerely plead for peace and quiet. The main idea of this song is that there might be trace metals in the environment that we cannot avoid. As the song says: "It's in your water and in your food. It's all around you: the air you breathe." In the song I propose that this crazy metal may react with our brain chemistry to basically make everybody crazy so there might not be a sane human on the planet

So this thread can be about needing peace and quiet, or about the effect of trace minerals on brain chemistry, or whatever.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs7IBnYOnUk[/youtube]

Last edited by TheBicyclingGuitarist on 02 Nov 2012, 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I used to have some very noisy neighbors. I had moved into a very quiet neighborhood in a college town precisely for the peace and quiet. Then the next year, the family that had been living in the house next door for more than a decade moved out and the landlord rented it to four seniors in college. They assured me that they would keep the noise down.

Their promise went out the window the first home football game. The bars closed at one and suddenly the street was filled with cars and plenty of loud music next door. I called the police with a noise complaint and they shut the party down.

Three or four more times and the college seniors next door became a lot less noisy. They had some parties, but so low key that it wasn't all that noticeable.

The weren't very happy with me, but I didn't care what they thought of me.

Hint to college students: don't move into a quiet family neighborhood and expect to hold loud parties. In most college towns there are neighborhoods with mostly college students and where loud parties are well tolerated. Move there.

I learned decades ago that I cannot live in an apartment complex unless maybe if it were a senior place with stronger rules or if it was built with noise-proof walls or something. The leases I signed usually had a clause about not disturbing the neighbors, but apparently other people can tolerate a LOT more neighbor noise than I can. The police and the apartment manager both told me there was basically nothing they could do and asked why I was having problems.

More than once when I lived in California I could have been killed by gangsta wannabes when I would go out to ask them to please turn down their rap music when they drove by my apartment. Again as I understand it they were illegal anyway to have music so loud coming from a motor vehicle in operation, but again that law is not very much enforced if it ever is. Later I moved to a town where there were large numbers of Mexican field workers who seasonally would invite more family up from Mexico for harvest time and throw loud parties in the apartment parking lot with their oompah music blasting. Again, it seemed to bother nobody but me and nobody would do anything about it and all I did by asking was make everyone mad at me.

All this was before I even knew I had Aspergers. I have learned since then to make a BIG DEAL with whoever I plan to rent from to insist that I MUST have a place that has peace and quiet. Even then, some still don't get it. The place I live in now is an example. I was assured that the other family in the duplex were reasonable and quiet. They are nice people and I don't mean to put them down, but no, there have been times when I could be in my room on the opposite end of the building from them with my door shut and earplugs in and their music would still disturb me. In the living room it was frequently much worse, especially if I wanted to watch TV or something. How can anyone enjoy a movie when you can hear the bass of someone's music thumping through the wall, or their TV is so loud you can hear its voices?

I had some nasty times with these neighbors (or at least with the male of the house), and at times I really angered them, but I see it as defending myself. As I see it, when they play their music loud enough to hurt me, I HAVE to do something about it, even if it means I might get beat up or killed, because I just can't stand the pain. To me, it is just as bad as if they were hitting my head with a sledgehammer. As I see it, they are physically assaulting me and I have every right to try to defend myself or die trying. I've been living in the same duplex for two years now and the neighbors most of the time are respectful of my need for quiet. They even seem to like me sometimes. Even the male of the house has occasionally made conversation in passing on the walkway to the door.

I am glad that I have a diagnosis now and that I have agents at various agencies who can assist me or back me up if needed. We don't always have much of a choice about where we can live, especially if you're poor and have pets.

Brilliant!

What I run into is how I am told to 'just go in the other room' if I want peace and quiet. Sheesh. No clue. Sometimes there is just no getting away and finding the quiet space I need. Weekends can be just brutal.