Monday, July 21, 2008

The problem with the mosquito tone

So this place in BC is playing this really high-pitched noise to keep Kids Today from loitering around. Apparently only people under 25 are supposed to be able to hear this noise because you lose the top part of your hearing range as you age.

There's a sample of the noise here. Can you hear it? How old are you?

Now even if this is a reasonable and justifiable means to keep Kids Today from loitering around, there's still a couple of major problems:

1. I'm 27, I can hear it, and it HURTS! It isn't just unpleasant, it's painful, like fingernails a blackboard. My whole body tenses up, my blood pressure skyrockets, and I get a tinge of nausea. You could torture me with this noise. The oldest person I've tested it on who could hear it was 31 at the time, and it hurt for him too. So if we can hear it and it HURTS us, how many other people outside the target demographic would be adversely affected as well? Not just being able to hear it, but it being painful. I listened to it for just a couple of seconds about 10 minutes ago (to make sure I can still hear it because I last tested it a year ago), and I still haven't gone back to neutral - I'm still a bit tense and feeling the remnants of that tinge of nausea. I'm not sure whether it's equally painful for younger people - I'd imagine if it hurts kids like it hurts me some parents would have complained by now - but what if it's more unpleasant for adults than for the kids who are the target? I've got half a dozen respectable adults with important jobs and disposable income and yuppie tendencies and all kinds of traits that you want in your downtown area, all of whom are going "OMG it HURTS!"

2. How do you know the only people who will hear it are loiterers? What if there are homes in the area? Apartments above the bars? People who are at work and trying to do their job? Parents who can't hear it with kids who can hear it in tow? What if animals can hear it? Does it hurt them? (I haven't been able to get anyone to test it on pets, probably because I keep introducing the subject with "OMG this hurts me! Does it hurt you? Now test it on your pet!") I don't think keeping loiterers away is worth subjecting area residents and nightclub employees who are trying to close up and the people working the Tim Horton's next door and local taxi drivers and other people who are in the area for perfectly legitimate reasons to all the hurtiness.

4 comments:

Sarah Haendler said...

At the ripe old age of 32, that's freaking irritating. It sets my teeth on edge. What a stupid idea.

impudent strumpet said...

Sarah, do you have musical training at all? I've noticed that almost all the adults who can hear the sound have musical training. (Although there's no logical reason why that would increase the actual range of one's hearing.)

laura k said...

It's a horrible idea, and you are 100% correct. But I feel terrible that I can't hear it.

I usually don't feel bad about my age, but this really made me feel bad.

(How cool to see Sarah Gates here!)

impudent strumpet said...

That's silly, your hearing it wouldn't help anything. The hurtiness isn't a zero-sum game.

I was going to say if you really feel bad you could do a dog test, but there's no point in subjecting the dogs to something that might hurt just because you're feeling bad for no reason.