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How Restaurants Got So Loud

theatlantic.com

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Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#241

Post by saalweachter »

blattimwind wrote: post #179
adwhit wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars must surely be the main cause. There is an interesting phenomenon known as "shifting baseline syndrome" where we tend to compare our environment to what we recall as a child and inevitably conclude that is has gotten nosier/busier/more polluted, not realizing that environment of our childhoods were already heavily degraded. The world in which we evolved would have been almost silent, almost all of the time, apar…

Woods are not quiet.

I was surprised as an adult how loud squirrels are scampering around the woods.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#242

Post by potta_coffee »

pavon wrote: post #102
erdo wrote: post #3

This is a pet hate of mine - glad to see it's not just me getting older. A restaurant round the corner from me has acoustic foam on the under-side of all the hard wood chairs and tables, and that helps a little. As soon as I find a bar that's decided to carpet its ceiling, it's going to be my new favourite hang (I understand why places don't want carpet on the floor. Apart from anything else, it's hard to keep clean)

I hate the trend of minimalist/industrial interior design in restaurants for this reason. There was a new restaurant I went to recently. We got there at 4 in the afternoon, and there were only 3 parties there other than us (out of >20 tables) conversing with reasonable inside voices. The music was calm and played at low background level. Yet my wife and I couldn't hear each other across the table. The floor was polis…

One of my favorite restaurants (food-wise) crams too many people into one huge room with windows instead of walls: glass everywhere. The sound is deafening. It's also a popular hangout for a group of kids from a local college and they're obnoxiously loud. Great food but I'm a basket case by the time I'm done eating (asd, I don't deal with sound well).

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#243

Post by [deleted] »

mwfunk wrote: post #219
NotAnEconomist wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never got this working from a coffee shop thing. This is an old tradition. Cafes, bars, tea houses, etc have served as social hubs and placed to read or work on documents (now computers) for literally thousands of years, everywhere on the planet. There's simply a social need for a space like that, because it's a more efficient usage of space to have people work on a revolving basis in a shared space than everyone…

That makes sense. Having a meeting is disruptive to everyone else but working on documents does not. It's like an open office, the last thing you want to do is make noise and disturb people trying to get work done (ironically).

[deleted]

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#245

Post by beat »

jlokier wrote: post #169
err4nt wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how obvious some people make it that they don't want business. I don't really care about power plugs or wifi when I visit a café (my battery running out is a great motivator + natural time limit, I can tether to my phone for internet) but I always pay close attention to how a new café is outfitted. Some cafés that genuinely want your business make plugs available to the customers, some will even go as far…

Some places are more explicit. There's a "no laptops" café movement now. One where I live has a "no laptops at mealtimes" sign. If you get out a laptop, they ask you to leave. If you come during a quiet period, get out a laptop, and are still using it when reaches a mealtime, they ask you to put it away. To be fair they do really good food, it's always packed at mealtimes, and they explain their policy is because the…

There are a couple of restaurants around here that have a "no phones" policy.

I applaud it.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#246

Post by sa1 »

thom wrote: post #21
keiferski wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Libraries are not playgrounds. This idea that the primary functional purpose of an important space should be some kind of afterthought is rather depressing, but I guess is follows from the entertainment-centric culture we live in. The purpose of a library is to read, not to entertain your kids.

Libraries are repositories of books for people to take away. The idea that they need to provide office space for people who could just as well read at home is stupid.

The idea that they need to provide space for activities other than quiet reading is even more odd.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#247

Post by amyjess »

apacheCamel wrote: post #48
damck wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Libraries aren't supposed to be "fun".

I feel like this is a very negative way to view the situation. Libraries should totally be "fun". It should be "fun" to go and find a book that you enjoy or just spend time reading in an area dedicated to the love of books. It shouldn't be a place to just drop the kids off and leave, but it should be a place kids want to go. Reading can be fun and I almost feel like it is a "trendy thing" of my generation (Millennial…

You can blame how reading is taught in schools.

There is nothing that will suck the enjoyment out of a story faster than a high-school curriculum.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#248

Post by lotsofpulp »

clairity wrote: post #227
decebalus1 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably won't be the most popular opinion but I'm siding with the business for this one. I never got people who use cafe bars, delis, etc.. as personal offices. I personally can't get 'in the zone' in such a public place where: - I need to buy/consume something every X minutes - have to overhear irrelevant stupid/mundane conversations - people have a habit of bringing their dogs everywhere now and I'm not even go…

even if you don't relate, other people have different desires and motivations and it's worth trying to understand that (for social harmony at the very least). you seem to want quiet and solitude in public places, but that's just not the norm. rather than distracting, i find cafes ideal places to work, as they have the right amount of low-recognition distraction (unlike home, where things are too quiet and my bed is s…

>dogs are bundles of joy and love, and make (most) people happy.

I'm at the point where I would pay extra for businesses and facilities that didn't allow animals. The service animal law is also being used fraudulently by so many people, I just assume it unless I can see the person is blind.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#249

Post by war1025 »

err4nt wrote: post #205
lazerwalker wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not fair to say they "don't want business". They don't want certain forms of business — laptop coworkers — that in many cases are both low-profit customers and actively limit the throughput of total customers. I had a good chat once with a guy who runs a small coffee roastery and number of fancy third-wave coffee shops in a posh university town. One of the most popular coffee shops in town went completely bankru…

The closest café to me is a 'concept café' being run by a local coffee roaster. I'll often go The problem with that café is their hours miss both the before-work rush, and the after-work rush, with them closing shop at 6pm. You have to be _open_ to take money.

The problem is being open costs money. In order to be profitable, you need to bring in more money than the cost of the labor, and that's after you account for cost of the product and the other fixed costs.

There is also the trouble that most of the people who will be around at close of business likely came in an hour or two earlier, so you are essentially paying someone to monitor the cafe without bringing in any new revenue.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#250

Post by blhack »

Ancalagon wrote: post #233
blhack wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse is television in restaurants. There is this GREAT restaurant with near me with a little side room that has a really cozy fireplace in it (VERY rare for Phoenix). The lighting for the room, however, has been destroyed by the TV. Also who on earth wants to watch ads while they are eating dinner? It's mind boggling because the place is also somewhat high end.

Where is this? Im in Phoenix as well and would like to check it out!

Dick's hideaway on 16th street and Bethany Home. Some of the best food I've ever had! Really lovely place but...just why on earth they have TVs in there? It just doesn't fit at all with the rest of the fantastic ambiance.
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