Noisy Neighbor Issues

As part of my commitment as the secretary for a state-wide fellowship, this weekend I was in Jefferson City for a business meeting. The meeting was hybrid; attendees could choose to attend either on Zoom or in-person. The in-person portion took place in a small sectioned-off portion of a hotel ballroom. 

Everything was going swimmingly until midway through the Saturday afternoon session. All of a sudden a patriotic concert band in the next section of the ballroom started practicing. Their music came clearly through the partition into our area.

Although the music was annoying, it was also fun. I was dancing in my seat while listening to "The U.S. Air Force" ("Wild Blue Yonder") song. A little later I went to the microphone to make a comment while "The Star Spangled Banner" was playing, and I felt like I should march up instead of walk. 

However, I don't think everyone had the same opinion as me. Our organization's contact with the hotel scrambled to see if the problem could be fixed, but couldn't find anyone with authority to do something. The person running the sound system had to work hard raise and lower the microphone volume as the music started and stopped. 

After about 20 minutes the music stopped permanently. It was replaced by a light hum of people conversing in the room, a much more pleasant background.

Five years ago today: The Talking Cuckoo Clock