“Hi, I’m from the apartment directly above you. And we have a band. And we were wondering if it was cool if we practiced two or three nights a week in our apartment, with a microphoned vocalist and amplified guitars and a full drum set. Don’t worry, we don’t have a cow bell! We wouldn’t ever play past midnight. So is that cool?”
I’ve suspected for awhile that people these days have a lot of gall. Whether it’s by littering two feet away from a trash can, or by emitting 120 decibel laughter on the 7:30am train, or by being generally oblivious to the hardships that their community faces, or by asking their neighbors if they don’t mind an active drum set above their heads three nights a week until midnight… yep, people have a lot of gall.
Where does this gall come from? Assuming most people innately possess a smidgen of empathy, I blame: Overindulgent parents, reality television that places a premium on the insipid thoughts and peeves of the individual, and the need to shelter one’s self from the harsh reality that life is a bitch, and while it would be hunky-dory for you if you could practice with your band in your apartment building, the cold hard truth is that you will have to shell out $150/month for a practice space for your band, you ballsy hip college boy you.
