Just Turn It Off

Sensory Borrow Bags are lovely thought but ... 

Piped music is something I feel very strongly about due to Ferretfingers’ problems with sensory overload and music in particular. 

I am not alone, there is an organisation called Pipedown which campaigns against piped music.

By law organisations are meant to give ‘reasonable adjustments’ for people with disabilities.  

One would think a request to turn the music off would be met with understanding, especially with a young person standing before them, visibly agitated, and saying loudly “the lady will turn the music off, please.”

However I’ve lost count of the times we’ve been met with “Oh we can’t do that” and/or “we can turn it down a bit” or “we can put you in a corner where there isn’t a speaker”. 

The last is a speciality of restaurants and, guess what, there is never a corner that the music doesn’t reach.  More than once I’ve been told “Oh we have to have it for the ambiance”; silly me I thought people went to restaurants to eat and concerts for the music.

And you'd be amazed at the number of waiting staff who have relatives with autism who aren't bothered by music at all, so what's his/our problem. 

We have walked out of, or not walked into, numerous eating places because of this.

And left a large tip in those places, usually independents, kind enough to understand and turn it off.

In Curry’s Silverlink last year I was countered with “he’s got his ear-defenders” and “we have a quiet hour”. 

From Facebook Archives

14 July 2023 at 14.08

They could save themselves the cost of ear defenders by simply turning the piped music off. 

That would also help the elderly and hard of hearing. 

It would also save the cost of the Performing Rights Society licence to play recorded music (they organise the royalties). 

Aldi, Lidl and other shops still manage to provide a decent service and make a profit without subjecting customers to some manager’s choice of muzak.

Mrs Melodeon  Well said Ben.

Drummerman  Muzak very annoying, although Tesco in Berwick has a quiet hour every morning when they turn it off, have less strident announcements and “turn down the beeps on the tills”.

Bentonbag  Wonderful.  So people with, or caring for and accompanied by those with, sensory issues have an hour a day in which to do their shopping.  I wonder how people would react if they decided to put wheelchair ramps in for an hour a day.

Drummerman   Don’t know how long it will last for, either. The Evesham branch used to have a “slow” till where the cashier was encouraged to chat and put things through at a comfortable pace: apparently this was a trial- seems to have been replaced by do-it-yourself checkouts.

Sandy   Co-ops are the worst and the Morrisons in leek.  They play the music so loud I think I should be wearing a John Travolta spangly suit.

Bentonbag  Now that I would like to see...

Bess Cavalier  As you say, other supermarkets manage without the muzzak - they are pretty noisy places anyway and really only the cashier needs to hear the beep on a till as an item goes through.

Bentonbag  In Canada, back in the 1980s, we were in a supermarket where instead of a beeb there was a computerised voice saying the item and the cost. Much more useful to all concerned that a beep, and (probably) not that hard to achieve with barcodes and IT.

Bess Cavalier I think that would be particularly useful for someone with visual impairment.

Mrs Westie  It's not even 'music ' ,it’s just someone wailing and boom boom.x