Living in New York City

The voice on the radio was over 40 and old school. He sounded about as comfortable mouthing the words of the Rap song he just played as I felt hearing it billowing in through the screens on my windows. It was embarassing to hear his intro and his reference to the artist whom he was pretending to understand. Since I've faked understanding Rap and been caught, I know the sound, the affectation, very well.

Now I listen to more Rap than I used to so I can stay in touch with what my students are listening to. And I like a lot of it.

There is no need to blast this OR ANY OTHER MUSIC in front of building on a residential street in mid-evening on a weekday night. There is no reason to blast any music ANYWHERE at ANY TIME.

Why do people do this? If I drove by in a car and blasted Jussi Bjoerling people would become irate. People are intimidated by Rap music. I hate that part of it. I should sit outside with my speakers and my computer and play the entire Ring Cycle. Now that will intimidate anyone. Why don't I do that? It's wrong, that's why.

Someday, I will find a way to convince people NOT to invade each others' spaces. We live in a city, one atop the other, ceilings and walls caving in further every night. We pay for our little bit of privacy. Why do we think we can abuse others by stepping on theirs?

I live in Brooklyn, in a section between Boro Park, Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge and Chinatown. Muslim and Jew, Christian, Zoroastrian -- we have every religion and multiple ethnicites and nationalities represented here. All of us get along -- this is a very, very low crime neighborhood. So much so that the police COME when you call about people disturbing the peace. I just wish I didn't have to make that call.

So, I ask as if my neighbors could hear me, "Was that necessary? Did you have to crack the air like plastic and trap me with what you felt you needed to say? If you came to this blog it was because you wanted to do so -- I don't throw my words, my website, my voice or anything with volume. Why are you so cruel to me and others?" And it's cruelty, no twoways about it, whether I like it or whether it sounds fake and designed to catch you with a commercial edge.