There's no sound of silence (From Gazette & Herald)

There's no sound of silence

EARLY October as I write this, and already the fireworks have started. I wonder why some folk are fascinated by bangs, and are willing to spend money in order to hear them. Would the shooting fraternity be as keen on their 'hobby' if their guns didn't go 'bang', I wonder? I have a feeling it would lose some of its attraction. We seem to have developed into a noise-related society. The so-called music of today must be at full volume; background music is no more, it must now be all-enveloping, invading, intrusive. Singers, also so-called, must have microphones close to their mouth, so that the voice can be amplified a thousand times. Car radios must now deafen not only the occupants of the car, but anyone within 50 yards or more. Even youth in the streets don't talk to each other as they walk along - they actually shout.

We tried hard, years ago, to keep some semblance of quietude in our daily lives. One didn't talk in class at school, or in loud voices in restaurants. Cars had silencers which worked, and if they didn't then one was more than likely stopped by the police and ended up in court. I remember motorists when I was young, having a silencer fail whilst out at Scarborough for the day. No Quick-fit then. And rather than chance a fine, they would leave the car at Scarborough and catch a bus or train home, leaving the car for repairs. Today, it seems to be fair game to have the car actually make more noise to make folk think you are a 'racer' - whatever that might be.

As for fireworks, I seem to remember that one couldn't buy fireworks until a few days before bonfire night. And as for letting one off before the 5th - well, no one dared do that, or else there'd be big trouble.

More noise in the home, I expect, if the supermarkets are anything to judge children by. Today, a tot in a pushchair wasn't given something she spotted on a shelf, and started to cry. She grew redder and redder in the face and got to the screaming stage. I hurried away, but this is where 'Europe' is wrong with the 'no-slap' rule, for this is the occasion where a bit of discipline is in order.

Gentle words seem to have little effect, and the child, or senior wrong-doer, knows that it has become easy to get away with doing wrong. Sadly, it must be admitted that kindness doesn't seem to work.

I ordered a book by telephone from a York specialist firm and received a post-card telling me it was ready for me. Addressed to 'Molton'. Well, it does sound like that, but you'd think that someone entrusted to advise customers about their orders would have heard of Malton wouldn't you!

I wonder when someone is going to give some thought to the 'island' in Railway Street and have the signs arranged so that traffic only goes round it in one direction. It's a menace, and always has been. You can, as a pedestrian, be clobbered, whichever side you step off, and stepping off to go into Yates' you can be just as easily hit by someone coming down the street, as by the chap who's making a quick dash for Wells Lane, by taking the short route and not going round it and using it as a proper island. I have raised this matter in various places over the years, and wonder if it is necessary to wait for a casualty before someone takes notice. I expect so!

Lovely footpath-cum-cycle-track from Scagglethorpe to Rillington. What a good idea. Anything to get away from the traffic on that busy stretch. So, how about making the next effort Old Malton to Pickering. Something else I've suggested before, and as there's already several stretches of footpaths already, in position, the seeds are already planted so to speak. I'd love a ride to Pickering, but I'm not doing to on that road. Too many folk in a hurry.

Remember Mothering Sunday? Soon to become 'Mother's Day'. Or should it be 'Mothers' Day' I wonder? And then, of course, came Father's Day, whichever place you put the apostrophe. I really thought we should have seen Grandma's and Granddad's Day this year, but so far it hasn't yet materialised. Is someone waiting for some excuse to name the day I wonder? I'll bet the card manufacturers can't wait for that one. Will 2003 see it, I wonder?

A comment overheard in town the other day - "What a nice, clean town Malton is!" Why certainly, I thought, but only because we have a conscientious man who goes round picking up by hand all the litter which is so casually dropped by the people who just don't care.

"People react to fear, not love - they don't teach that in Sunday School, but it's true." Richard Nixon (1913-1992) US President.

Updated: 10:15 Wednesday, October 23, 2002