Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset

Lately, I've been obsessed with a DC blog called "Quest for Quiet", which is solely dedicated to documenting the aural assault made by amplified street preachers who shout their wing-nut rants through a microphone a half block from the blogger's house every Saturday.

The blogger told me in an email that, "The endless hours of amplified noise on a Saturday is quite stressful. Yes, we can hear it even inside our homes with windows closed. What makes it more stressful is the fact that the noisemaking fellows seem to enjoy the fact that they are able to harass the neighborhood like this. The preachers come to the neighborhood from outside DC. [Their leader] lives in northern Maryland. The other fellows, as far as I know, do not live in the neighborhood. Some I talked to said they were from Virginia and another from Pennsylvania."

I have a huge problem with people who come in from the hinterlands and disrespect urban neighborhoods. That type of human garbage rolls through my neighborhood every weekend, shouting and drunkenly breaking shit, but that's nothing compared to the poor Quest-for-Quiet guy. Those behaviors would be 100% verboten in Maryland or Virginia, akin to public sex or lighting cars on fire. Some folks consider the city a dirty, lawless playground, where it's admissible to act like an asshole, as long as they can retire to manicured lawns and strip malls afterwards. (Disclaimer: I grew up in Maryland, but I never did that crap). Maybe when the city has more TGI Fridays and concierge services at high schools people will act civilized.