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Lunchtime Photo

On Saturday I was up in LA on a variety of errands. My last stop was the Westlake/MacArthur station near MacArthur Park, where I wanted to check out the blaring classical music being played to keep the bums out. Was it really loud enough to count as torture?

Two caveats. First, MTA might have turned down the volume since the LA Times ran its story last Tuesday. I have no way to know. Second, I recorded my visit on my phone, which doesn't do a very good job of recording ambient noise. Or, more accurately, it does too good a job of recording ambient noise. Metro stations are fairly loud places, with air conditioning and machinery noises echoing through a cavernous space, but it's not as loud as the video makes it sound. That said, the music wasn't really especially annoying. In fact, it was hard enough to hear that I couldn't tell you what it was. Now, however, you may judge for yourself.

UPDATE: Yep, the volume has been turned down.

11 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo

  1. NeilWilson

    To keep the kids out, they should play annoying sounds in the high frequencies.

    It is amazing how my kids can hear sounds that are absolutely silent to me.
    I can't remember where my high frequency hearing drops off but I'm your age.

    Of course, if the bums are our age then they won't hear it either.

    1. Atticus

      Yes. I didn't realize that was a thing until recently. My wife and I were at my parents house. They apparently had some issue going on with their stereo and it was emitting a constant high pitch (and very annoying) sound. My wife and I heard it immediately upon entering the house. My parents had no idea.

  2. cld

    For those with misophonia they could pump in amplified noises of people eating, interspersed with Baby Shark and the Barney the Dinosaur theme.

  3. Rich Beckman

    Isn't the more important question "Are there fewer bums?"

    I see three people, none of whom strike me as bums.

  4. rick_jones

    First, MTA might have turned down the volume since the LA Times ran its story last Tuesday. I have no way to know.

    Short of asking the station attendant or MTA HQ.

  5. Salamander

    I really dislike the concept of music being used as torture, whether it's McArthur Park (didn't it melt in the rain?), or Guantanamo Prison, or the Koresh place in Waco. That they figured "classical" music was enough to drive anybody away is particularly insulting.

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  7. dspcole

    Who’s that happy guy in the upper left corner of the video shot? He looks like someone just told him he’s going to get his T-cells back in a few days….

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