Rosa and Olindo, the precursors of a New Italy that is waking up to itself now. They killed four people because of the noise coming from the floor above. They were overcome with madness. Alessandro used his knife twenty times on his neighbour. Because his dogs barked.
Noise can be clattering, like the noise made by the rubbish collection lorry at six in the morning. Disturbing like the hooter of the scoundrel who insists on bringing his car into the city centre and then finds himself in a jam. Yesterday I even saw a Smart blaring away at a lady on a pedestrian crossing because she wasn’t walking fast.
Noise can be nauseating like the high volume advertising on TV. Wallpaper-style like the programmes that have talked about the elderlyboiledcouple in every moment. Or the unsilenceable anti-theft device of an apartment whose owners are away on holiday.
Noise. Pronounce this word slowly: n-o-i-s-e. Turn the radio off. The TV off. Get double glazing. Get the apartment sound-proofed. And listen to words. Your words, your friends’, your children’s. Isn’t it wonderful?
Noise makes us deaf. It is estimated that the hearing capacity of those who live in a city or in a noisy environment is reduced by 30%. Anyone who shouts, turns up the radio in the car, turns up the volume for the advertising spot, should be fined. Severely. I propose decibel sensors available to the urban police and the condominium administrators. On the signs welcoming you to the city or town, as well as the speed limits, there should also be a maximum decibel limit.
Noise is a violation of our privacy. No one gives the right to a crazy guy to shoot 100 decibels at our ear drums. Noise is also in the background, and we no longer pick it up, but it corrodes the mind.
The violation of your home is valid even for noise. If a noise is not authorised to enter our homes it has to stay outside the door. And if it’s so obstinate that it comes back day after day, it could happen that the source of the noise gets suppressed. Basically it’s only a question of privacy.