It might be that you’re the asshole in this situation. I think the boundaries are pourous around this topic.
(Sure, I just called someone random on the web an asshole. I don’t mean it with any force. In London we get people riding busses playing their im-personal stereos loudly, sometimes. I often don’t like it either. I often use headphones for my own sounds but not the blocking kind, and will have to stop my music because of thwirs. One time someone got into the Tube/metro carriage I was in playing loud Brazilian music from a speaker on a trolley. At first it annoyed me, but after a few bars it got me grooving. Then I realised it was a funk-infused cover of a traditional capoeira song, so I steuck up a conversation with the other rider about Brazil and capoeira. Made my day.)
Realizing that you enjoyed being forced to listen to music you didn't decide to listen to doesn't mean you might be an asshole for not enjoying it at other times. That's ridiculous.
That's nice you can get some nice story out of it but I do think people who grew up in cities have a totally different mindset than the rest of us.
For me, I don't want to live in a cacophony of noises 24/7. That goes for music, non-stop ambulances, loud speakers, etc.
I tried and decided that those places are not for me, so I moved back to smaller and much quieter places (I very much prefer the sound of rivers, insects and wild birds to other people's sounds.)
It might make me an asshole but it's also quite natural to be drawn to peace, so there that.
I'm willing to bet 99.99% of the time you hear music from outside a car it's not due to someone being hard of hearing, unless they caused that issue themselves by listening to music too loud.
However, if you are hard of hearing to the point where you are actually disturbing others, I would recommend headphones.
It is not generally legal to drive while wearing headphones. In some US states it is specifically banned, and in many others you will get pulled over for distracted driving. (The thinking is partly because it makes it more difficult to hear emergency vehicle sirens).
Background noise makes it difficult for the hard of hearing to listen to conversation.
If we cared more for the hard of hearing we would reduce music volumes and make restaurants quieter. Our society doesn't care even though it pretends to.
Other cultures seem to feel more entitled, thinking that THEIR music could not possibly bother anyone. I've certainly heard people blast Wagner or Orff at high volumes.
The phrase "turn down" is the opposite of "turn up". To "turn down" would be to decrease the intensity of the party. And "turn down for what" means something like "don't stop the party for any reason".
OK, that makes sense in the context of "another round of shots".
But in my experience, party intensity and music volume are generally correlated, so you would probably turn down the former by turning down the latter.
I had to consult with my elders to verify this, but I can now confirm that in 1950s England, "turn it up" meant the opposite: "stop what you're doing, settle down".
Pretty sure that's not the case here. To "turn down" is a common phrase (at least in the US) that is used to describe changing something by use of a control.
As described at Wiktionary [0] - it's an idiomatic way of saying that you're going to lower the volume through use of a control to do that. The context that was used has nothing to do with party.
> At its core, turn down for what is a phrase used to promote having a good time. The phrase itself implies that there is no reason to turn down and stop partying.
He knew what he was doing, but YOU had no clue what he was doing. Low frequency audio is close to non-directional, you install subwoofers where it is convenient to fit them, not to "aim" the sound in any particular direction.
Mine is firing directly upwards. I'm not trying to knock birds out of the sky.
Subs are non-directional, as someone else pointed out, and bass sound waves need room to propagate. The actual direction they get "aimed" can also depend on the trunk area and shape.
My subs, while currently pointing backwards, would have been better firing upwards for no other reason than the manufacturer (Audiofrog) doesn't recommend grills. As it is, I have to be careful what I place in my trunk to avoid punching a hole in the cone.
I spent several years in South America, and down there (it varies by country, but by and large) it's totally normal for people to play music on loudspeaker on public transport, walking down the street, in the park, etc, nobody bats an eyelid. The same behaviour in most western countries is met with disdainful looks, and often with someone else blatantly telling the "offender" to put on headphones. So, yeah, it does depend on the culture.
Highly variable of course - but I've found these types of self-centered narcissistic attributes to be far more endemic to western culture. I don't remember a single time in my years of living in Taiwan where I heard somebody blaring loud music / subwoofers, both while walking around and in all the flats that I lived.
In my experience it is function of how a society values personal space and courtesy.
You do find a lot of social music in high density environments such as in found in global south or in America cities where personal space is not a much of a choice , while Taiwan (or Japan or Korea) is high density too the extreme courteous culture makes them different.
It is also different in what makes public music, it is not necessarily someone playing their favorite songs , in India for example things like religious events or weddings or funerals people tolerate and even expect public music but typically don’t accept say a guy with a boom box .
It is very different way of growing up and living if you have to no choice but hear neighbors fighting or having sex , public music wouldn’t feel so offensive when you hear a lot things you prefer not to daily.
