Loudness

by Libby Weber 
What is the deal with all this noise pollution?? I understand that we are living in compact housing, the streets are narrow, neighbors are close, and all the stone walls and hard surfaces reflect noise of any kind. But what’s with the acceptance of loudness at the most inappropriate times of the day? I am the only one that thinks normal sleeping hours are generally 11:00pm to 7:00am? Apparently so. I hear kids screaming long after midnight, boisterous conversations starting at 4:00 in the morning, and obnoxiously loud and high pitch squeals of moped motors any time in between. It doesn’t matter which day of the week it is either. Do they really need to dump all glassware in the recycling bins in the middle of the night? My only saving grace is that the bakery outside my window is closed on Sundays, so I don’t have to get up at 3:45am and close my shutters. If this I was this loud at home during these times, I’d have neighbors that would be giving me dirty looks, local police stopping by asking me to ‘keep it down’. I don’t think two weeks here in Cagli will give me enough time to understand or adjust. And here’s the real kicker….I got shushed and scolded in a foreign language by an Italian women two floors above me for having a phone conversation in the street at 11:00 on a Saturday night! What?!? C’mon…