Whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest? It seems there is no longer a time when people chill out, gather with friends or relatives and just stop “DOING”.
I often wake up on a Sunday morning to the sound of someone mowing their lawn. There was a time when lawnmowers were pushed by hand and the noise was actually mellow. I think the only time you’re going to see one of those is if you go to the Smithsonian. Now even if someone has a postage stamp for a lawn their on a seated mower that a farmer might use on the back forty. It doesn’t end with that! They often follow-up with the leaf blower from hell. I believe whoever invented it had a sadistic mind and wanted everyone to go deaf.
There’s often sawing, nail guns, and loud music ramped up so that the person using the nail gun can hear it. Recently someone was power washing their deck. The motor went on relentlessly for hours making me feel like I was having a hole drilled in my head. Oh, you’ll hear the usual excuses., “that was the only day we could do it”! But, I think that way of thinking is that of a culture that no longer values making Sunday one of respite from the relentless pursuit of trying to work and doing chores. I realize there are still folks out there that make Sunday one that simulates the past, but they may be a dying breed. What I really think makes me crazy is those who embark on all of the above, don’t seem to think that they might have some neighbors that need peace and quiet. Neighbors used to value how they affected each other, but since we segued into the era of self entitlement, it becomes every man for himself.
You can see this thought process permeating a great deal of how we now treat one another. It really is part and parcel of a broader concept called civility. After all shouldn’t I be able to rev the motor of my car at 7AM, or drown you in a myriad of sounds on a day you might like to enjoy being surrounded by stillness. Lots of luck, stillness is eventually going to be completely absent from our lives. You will probably have to tunnel down a mile in your back yard to get away from it. I don’t know about you but I’m going to start digging.