Friday, 17 December 2021
Shriek
A few days ago we were having a very pleasant restaurant lunch with relatives. The service was good, the food was good and we had a most enjoyable time as we always do. However we were all mildly amused by incredibly loud shrieks of laughter from a nearby table.
This was a table of oldies like us. Not particularly noisy people, but one woman had a very loud, shrieking laugh which would briefly drown any other conversation. She laughed at anything too. For example one chap on the same table said –
No I’ve changed my mind. I won’t have the crème brulée, I’ll have cheese instead.
Not side-splittingly funny, but this drew a loudest shriek of laughter imaginable. Could have been a private joke of course, but that would mean it was a repeat where a smile might be the response. But no – a full blast shriek of laughter.
Strange really. Do people know how deafening they are?
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10 comments:
Do people know how deafening they are?"
This sort of thing is another mindless TV promotion. Audiences aren't reacting to plan if they aren't shrieking, shouting, whistling and so on. It's de rigueur on US TV and is one more colonists' revenge which has crossed the Atlantic..
"All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players"
- but some want to keep the spotlight on them, and others stand watching from the chorus.
Paddy McGuinness.
Bill MacLaren.
I rest my case.
"Do people know how deafening they are?"
Children can be very astute observers of what's going on around them, but not necessarily well versed in the finer points of "Etiquette". My younger sister once did a very effective job of silencing an obnoxious diner at a restaurant. This person was rabbiting on quite loudly in an awfully "posh" accent, much to the annoyance of others in the room.....until my sister (who was about 10 at the time) suddenly came out with a perfect rendition when speaking to my parents. The obnoxious one obviously heard - and realised what she sounded like - because she didn't utter another peep...
A friend at University had a theory that some people had "Viking Blood". That meant that they couldn't have a good time without letting everyone around them know. These are the people who cannot get drunk without bellowing rugby songs or karaoke, who lead chants at football matches, shout "Yeeee-hah!" when stoned, and who shout in deserted places to hear the echo. Rather than staring into the embers, they want sing-songs around camp fires.
Noisy restaurant diners are probably repressed middle class versions of these. Count yourself lucky that their Viking Blood is sufficiently diluted such that they don't start whooping and hollering when the waiter brings the soup.
Laughing in restaurants is sometimes rewarding, but shrieking is certainly not good manners...
I remember having dinner in a place in Bath with a close chum, and we had some sort of disagreement about Northern Ireland for some reason.
At one stage, he looked at me with a mouthful of fish, and said something incomprehensible, at which I became absolutely uncontrollable with mirth, as he went all red as well!
Then he started laughing as well, and for several minutes, we were just totally and utterly lost in tears of laughter, and completely out of control!
When he became my boss a year or so later, he had to sack me (and the whole Southern office was going too, not just my division), and while I was a bit resentful, (I actually got another job about three hours after leaving his office where the deed was done), I rang him and told him that there were no hard feelings and that I'd buy him lunch - with fish, one of these days!
So a good laugh put paid to any animosity!
Jannie - yes, for some people making a noise seems to be an essential part of enjoying themselves. Loud music seems to be part of that.
DJ - if you want to get on in life, a loud voice does seem to help sometimes. It certainly attracts the spotlight.
Doonhamer - I've never heard of Paddy McGuinness so I must be missing something.
microdave - sounds like an event to treasure. Yes children can be very astute observers and sometimes say what adults would like to say.
Sam - it ought to have a name such as the Mead Hall Effect. Maybe it does have a name.
Scrobs - a nice story - there is something healthy about laughing at yourself. I bet not many members of Sage laugh at themselves. They should.
I had one of those occasions Scrobs. My widow neighbour and I holidayed together, we went to the Galapagos on a package tour. Our fellow travelers were a mixed bunch, among them were husband and wife pilots, rather posh and full of themselves. As the fortnight progressed we noticed that the sycophants they gathered started tiring of them. One dinner my companion and I, sitting at the far end of the table met eyes and started giggling uncontrollably. Very rude of us but I don't think we upset anyone.
Andy - during a hospital spell some years ago, an air ambulance helicopter pilot was in the same ward. He was certainly a snob who obviously saw himself as superior to the rest of us.
Great yarn, Andy!
Senora O'Blene and I are always laughing about something, and several chums in the village are always causing mayhem with fun and games whenever we meet up - it's a lovely way to communicate!
I learned how to laugh from extended flatshares with Aussies, who can really get the humour going when they want to!
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