I am sitting in my beloved coffee shop as usual for me at this time of the night, using their free wifi. There is a group of men, mostly, in here with me, all of whom are here to watch the Yankees baseball game on the TVs. These men are standing extremely close to each other, and one or two touch each other at times, and all of them have located their mouths approximately 12 -24 inches (between 30.5 and 61 cm, or roughly 4 and 8.35 baseball diameters) away from at least one of their friend's ears.
So my random question is Why are they shouting at each other?
Does anyone know why most men (but not "my guys" -- my male readers, of course!), in general, are compelled to shout at each other when in each other's company? Surely these guys know they are neither at the ball park nor in a pub. Does testosterone short-circuit hearing in human males? (It doesn't have this effect in birds, whom I studied for my dissertation). These men are so loud that I can barely hear myself think, and am worried that their nonstop "conversation" will harm my hearing and make me a less effective birder.
And this level of noise is nothing compared to when the Yankees do something good, like score a point or something. At that point, it is literally deafening in here.
And if you think that a man needs to see another man in order to shout, this is not the case. There is a man sitting next to me who is shouting into his cell phone. His shouting is painful to my ears. So whether he is talking to another man or not, he is still shouting, without any visual stimulus that would suggest he needs to shout. It makes me wonder what sort of torture the holidays are transformed into when these rude, loud men are present.
I am bringing earplugs with me from now on.
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:::sigh:::
There may be a comment in there about group behavior, or male group behavior, or American male group behavior. I don't know.
For some reason, for which I am endlessly grateful, I do not possess the sports fan gene. I have no problem with those who do; I say live and let live. I don't care who wins whatever game and have no animosity toward those who do care, but please...it's no excuse to act like an asshole in public.
I'm probably not presenting a balanced view, since I have hyperacusis (well I am a Barn Owl, after all), but the unrelenting loudness of most urban/suburban settings is a pet peeve of mine. I think many people, male and female, have deafened themselves with electronic devices and stereo speakers. Permanent hair cell damage, thanks to iPods with crappy earphones, and idiotic vibrating boom-cars. I suspect that drivers of the latter have also damaged nerves and vessels in their crotches, so they'll be wanting Viagra, in addition to the hearing aids.
Didn't find your sweeping generalizations about enthusiastic men in groups and/or on the phone being excessively loud, to be particularly enlightening. But it does seem to be true among the neanderthal types.
Good call. T.C.
Free WiFi doesn't come cheap.
You just don't get it. Men's views and conversations are superior to women's, so as a gesture we're sure you'll appreciate, we talk loudly and allow you to listen in. You will be enlightened by their wisdom.
Some people are just ungrateful.
Sociolinguistics can answer your question!
Quite simply, they are shouting because they shout.
You can study they way they speak as it's own dialect. And you can essentially chalk it up that their dialect values loudness.
I'd still advise a pair of earplugs.
Tell me what your reaction would be if you read the following:
"Does anyone know why most women, in general, are compelled to spend so much time applying make-up? Surely these women know that they make themselves late by doing so. Does estrogen short-circuit a perception of time in human females?"
C'mon, now. You're better than this post.
well, i wonder about the make-up and estrogen thing, too, but i suppose i should give it a try before i get too worried about it.
anyway, yes, Jess, you are right, i am being a brat by making my assertion that "most men, in general, are compelled to shout at each other". i suppose this is because i came from a dysfunctional and abusive family where my father used shouting as his sole form of verbal communication -- something that made me so nervous and nauseous that i either hid in my bedroom or left the house altogether. so i am hypersensitive to this sort of thing, i guess, and thus, generalize about this like this when it is just not true.
my bad.
and this coffee shop is usually quite pleasant. today, for example, i am sitting in my coffee shop, and the guys here are having a great conversation (not shouting), and i find it really wonderful to be around them.
In the men are mars and women from venus files:
"when the Yankees do something good, like score a point"
In baseball its runs, not points ;)
The problem is your generalization. It's not men - it's Yankees fans. (ducking)
Since you seem tobe coming to England this year you should take the opportunity to observe a bunch of pissed up women on a Friday night