Music at the Beach

We’ve been watching a show called Unacceptable, where comedians express and defend their unacceptable opinion. They poll the audience when the opinion is first stated to see how many agree, and then poll them after the comedian has defended their position to see if they’ve swayed any hearts. The opinions are usually ridiculous. It’s a lot of fun.

You know what isn’t a lot of fun?

Music at the beach. That’s my unacceptable opinion. I think music played in public from speakers (vs. privately via headphones) should be banned, or if it can’t be banned — because let’s face it, smoking is banned at the beach and so many people around us were smoking — there should be a silent section of the beach similar to the quiet car on a train.

Who is with me?

When I go to the beach, I want to hear the waves. I know I’m also going to hear children shrieking and people talking loudly, but I still want to be able to hear nature along with those sounds. We had a family set up next to us and start blasting folk music. This was a day after a person set up speakers to blast opera — OPERA! — across the sand. Anyway, the family was blasting folk music, and the boy between us turned on his phone and started blasting country music back at them, and they both kept turning up the volume until I picked up my chair and moved down to the water.

There are so many ways to privately enjoy music in public, and plenty of private spaces to enjoy music collectively. But listening to music from a speaker in public? I think it should be banned. That’s my unacceptable opinion.