Maybe I am, a little. Maybe I do sometimes fail to swallow whole those standards which are universally thought to be right and proper (right and proper, of course, being very fluid concepts that change from year to year like the fashions on haute couture runways).
In our society, we tend to bend over backwards to help people who are less fortunate than most. And that's as it should be. But I suggest...very gingerly...that sometimes we go too far in these efforts, and the result, in those cases, is that the vast majority of the population is expected to change behaviors or tolerate disturbances in order to accommodate a proportionally tiny group of those with special needs. Most of the time, the things we do to accommodate those less able than ourselves are quite easily adapted to. I remember when sidewalks always ended at regular curbs at intersections, rather than the wheelchair-friendly slopes we see everywhere nowadays. That was a good change to make. Helpful to those who needed it and disruptive to no one.
The particular bee in my bonnet tonight, though, is audible crosswalk signals. The good thing about them is that they allow vision-impaired individuals to safely cross the road without help. I support this. I have nothing but admiration for blind people who venture out with nothing but a cane and, if they're lucky, a dog, and make their way around the city without benefit of being able to see where the hell they're going like the rest of us. That's one ballsy, brave and admirable thing to do. And audible crosswalk signals allow them to do it more safely. It is a good thing.
The bad thing about them is that they add even more cacophony to the already severe noise pollution in this neighbourhood. There's one at the intersection very close to my apartment. It must have been installed this winter, because it's only in the last few weeks, since the weather's been a tad milder and I've cracked my windows now and then, that I've noticed it for the first time. It can be heard very clearly, even above the noise of cars driving by on the wet pavement. It comes on for 15 seconds, then off for fifteen. On...off...on...off...all day and all night. It goes on whether or not a pedestrian at the intersection has pressed the Walk button. When the windows are open, I can hear it from every room in my apartment...including my bedroom.
It drives me insane. It's a terrible distraction. It annoys me so much it's all I can focus on, so it disrupts my work, it disrupts my ability to get to sleep. And I have no doubt that the disturbance is even worse for the people in the building next to me, whose bedrooms practically look right over the intersection. And I refuse to keep my windows shut all year in order to avoid the noise....just sayin'.
So, my question is... is it really necessary to install audible signals for visually impaired people which disrupt the lives of those living nearby 24 hours a day, when the occasions that they are really needed by the people they were installed for are exceedingly rare? I have never once seen a blind person walking around my neighbourhood alone (or accompanied, for that matter) in the almost five years I've lived here. But, as someone who lives and works in this space 24/7, I am subjected to the noise of a safety signal put there for those very rare blind pedestrians who need it.
I'm not suggesting the audible signal should be removed completely. But come on...the people it's for are blind, not deaf. It's not necessary to disrupt an entire city block of apartment dwellers for the occasional blind person who comes along. Surely the volume could be turned down and the signal changed to something less grating on the nerves (the current signal sounds like four repeating notes from one of those roving ice cream trucks (and don't get me started on THOSE!). Or maybe they could install special Walk buttons just for those who need the audible signal. I wouldn't mind that at all...even if it was just as loud or even louder than it is now. It'd hardly ever get used anyway.
So, yeah, maybe this makes you think I'm a selfish bitch with no compassion and no consideration for people who are less fortunate than me. I'm not...really. I'm just not afraid to say something on the occasional times when my opinion might be somewhat un-PC. I've resolved to phone the City in the morning to complain about the noise. I'll give them my suggestion about the special walk button. Because, the warmer weather is coming, and the windows will be open for months on end, and there's no way I'm going to put up with that racket.
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Image: poster for Noise, the excellent movie starring Tim Robbins, about a man who does what I'd sometimes love to do... take a baseball bat to the noise-makers.
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