The Noise

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Lifestyle

It is a small theater in the Berkshires and we settled into our seats looking forward to the show.

Soon after we were seated, a patron came in and sat behind us. The gentleman carried a portable oxygen concentrator that was providing air flow to the tubes leading to his nose.

As he sat and the lights dimmed the noise - a whirring sound - coming from the portable unit was undeniable. The man’s wife suggested that he turn the fan down and he did. It was annoying to those around him, including us, but tolerable.

As the lights went down for the second act, the noise was more pervasive. Perhaps the fan was not turned down. Annoying and interfering but any intervention at this point would be most disturbing.

We struggled through the second act. The noise clearly affected our ability to enjoy the play.

What to do?

Comments

Carly Bentley

Ugh....that's annoying and a tough position. On one hand, you want to enjoy the seats you purchased, but might have to move. On the other, I'd feel bad about moving--the poor guy can't breath …..
What did you end up doing?
Paul Napolitano

Grin and bear it. At times like this, we need to just take a breath and realize how blessed we are, and let it go. Victoria is my Sherpa in those frustrating moments!

Submitted by MarilynGenoa on Wed, 08/07/2019 - 23:50

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Marilyn Genoa

Well said Paul.

Submitted by Liz_Saldana on Thu, 08/08/2019 - 00:07

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Liz Saldana

I agree with Paul.
Daniel Schwartz

As Paul said, grin and bear it. It is a tough situation. If it got to the point of being intolerable, I would likely try to move. I think of similar situations on a plane and the kid behind you keeps kicking the seat back even after several verbal mentions to both child and parent. Tough to deal with. But calm minds usually win in the long run.
Neal Berman

Agree. We had a dear friend who had end stage COPD. The oxygen was ever-present. The machine’s noise was often very intrusive, from the house to the movies to restaurants. But it’s annoyance paled in comparison to what the disease was doing to our friend. The last 6 months to one year of his life were not pleasant to say the least.
Victoria Drogin

Our son Derek sent us the following story in our family group chat today. (With 6 of us, it goes back and forth all day long). Like his dad, he is the most compassionate, loving man.
It’s calked “happiness in a glass jar”. And is right on point. (It made me cry.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/b4vyxc/she_sold_happiness_in_glass_jars/
Cynthia Somma

We went to see Sarah Mclachlan last week and the women behind us talked loudly--all night long, when someone finally said something, it got worse.


In your case, I personally would have stuck it out. It's unfortunate for everyone involved.

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