Needing Noise

This past weekend I played chauffeur Joe, by driving a bunch of students to and from a retreat they were attending. I didn't attend the retreat myself, I just volunteered to help drive people to and from. In all I made 5 of these trips. The first trip out one of the students asked if I could put some tunes on. And of course I turned on the radio. Actually I had just made a new mix tape earlier that day and I was eager to listen to it. And since I have sensational taste, the students very much enjoyed it too. Well there were some songs they did not like, and then I had to scream at them but in all it was a good time. Then the next day I was driving some more students and again I was asked if I could put some tunes on. This second request gave me some pause and is the subject of this post.

Notice that word 'tunes'. Both people asked me to play some 'tunes'. Not music, the radio, melodies or whatever other words one uses to describe music, but 'tunes'. I could be wrong but the odds of two people using that same word, which I don't think is a very common word used to describe music compared to all the other phrases one could use, seems awfully low. And that got me thinking about today's youth. To me this was an indication of this near addiction young people have to needing music or some sort of background noise at all times. You see it everywhere, people walking around with those buds stuck in their ears. In my case, we were not on the road for a minute before the requests for the music came in. Now, not everyone is like this. Of the other 3 trips, only 1 requested music but it was at least a few minutes out. It's not like we had just got into the car and the need for music arose. And we can't say that they wanted the music so soon because of a lack of conversation. Quite the opposite, the students I drove gabbed on and on the whole time.

For me, I do like playing music while I'm at work. Sometimes I turn it on just to get rid of the noise of the other workers. Other times I do find it helps me concentrate, especially if there really is no other sort of noise present, like in a really quiet library. But then there are times when I get so completely absorbed in my work or studies that I completely tune out everything to the point where I won't even respond if my name is called, or where I really do want the complete quiet. I generally find all addictions troubling. Maybe this apparent need for music that the students seemed to be craving was just my perspective on the situation but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if many of these earbud wearing types really have developed a 'need' for constant noise.