Why do we hate the Bluetooth Speaker?
Controversial? Yes. Wrong? ...
(This is just my opinion. It might not be yours! That’s ok. It doesn’t make either of us bad people. So take that into account.)
I headed out hiking on the Fourth of July. It was a blisteringly hot day, and even though the 10 miles was relatively flat, we quickly became soaked with sweat. But others were out too. Hiking, walking, biking along a canal path nearby (one couple was in a gig pulled by a tiny horse!), fishing and swimming in the wider and deeper sections of the streams.
Of course where there are people, there are now Bluetooth Speakers. Blaring music over the squeals of kids, echoing over the water, or announcing the arrival of another hiker in the woods or biker on the path.
Part of me is instantly annoyed. I hike in the woods to get away from noise. To listen to the birds (none of which I can identify). To hear the cicadas and maybe see some cool wildlife (sightings that day included a goldfinch, a deer, and a very, very large skink). Suddenly hearing blasting music I didn’t put on scares away the wildlife. It kills the vibe.
But the other part of me says maybe I, and those of us cursing Bluetooth Speakers, need to chill.
I was thinking about this because of a lovely Q&A between Kendra Pierre-Louis and the environmental activist/drag queen Pattie Gonia at Bloomberg. I’ve been a fan of Pattie Gonia since the day she* crossed my Instagram. I love the absolute joy that she brings to the outdoors, the love that shines out in every picture. And something Wyn Wylie (Pattie’s non-drag name) said in the interview really spoke to me.
The first thing that comes to my mind is we need to completely redefine what outdoorsy means. We experience nature in such powerful and different and beautiful ways. It’s often not conquering a mountaintop or stewarding 40 acres of land, it’s enjoying a neighborhood park, it's painting our nails in our backyard, it’s going on a walk with a friend. So I want to advocate for that definition of nature.
I think we’re asking a lot of people right now to fight for our planet, and forgetting a very important first step of connecting to this planet. And that is why I will advocate until the day I die for people to just get the heck outside.
Let people connect with nature where they are. Gardening, going on a walk, sitting in the grass, all of these are just as valid as nine months on the Appalachian Trail or climbing Half Dome.
Many people who are outdoorsy, well, they often have one specific way of BEING in that outdoors. It’s “pure,” quiet, worshipful. It involves expensive gear and the ability to hike 14 miles up and down a mountain.
And those people also all tend to look a bit the same. They come from similar demographics, have similar upbringings and cultures.**
I am one of those people. I have wonderful, fond memories of my dad taking my brother and I hiking in Shenandoah National Park. We’d get Subway sandwiches and eat them at an overlook, and then head down the trail. Sometimes we’d see bears or deer or squirrels or the beautiful, hazy vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They are some of my most precious memories of my childhood, and why I will forever have a soft spot for BLTs.
Those experiences also formed the way I thought of the outdoors. The outdoors was a place to wade in streams. To skitter up and down dusty trails ‘til your legs ache. To sit on rocks and look, and look, and LOOK. A place to listen to birds and cicadas and let daddy long legs crawl right over your hand without fear.
It formed how I think of the outdoors now. How I want to hike 10 miles, not five or two. How there are certain foods I want to eat outside: dried fruit, nuts. BLTs. How I admire the people who can hike the AT or summit Mt. Washington.
How I come to the outdoors is not how everyone does. My way is not the only way. Or the best way. It is just A way. When we act as though there is one true way to be outside, we exclude other ways. Not everyone can or should do multi-day backpacking trips. Not everyone can camp or hike rough trails. Not everyone can afford to travel to places off the grid. And not everyone wants to hike, play or walk in silence.
Just as I notice the people who enjoy the outdoors the way I do tend to look a lot like me, I’ve noticed people who use Bluetooth speakers often don’t. I often see them with groups of teens. Large families. People who aren’t necessarily white, small-bodied, and wearing expensive gear.
When people like me are annoyed at the noise, then, what are we really annoyed at? Are we irritated by the noise? Or are we irritated by people having a good time in a way we don’t find familiar?
As my friend Riley pointed out when I spoke with her about this: Lately, especially since the pandemic (still happening), it seems people have become used to being isolated in their own comfort. Such that we get much more annoyed when people are…well, people, around us. I also feel like we are generally more easily annoyed now. The world is really, really hard. We’re all that tiny bit closer to snapping.
I understand why some people don’t like the noise itself. Life is noisy enough, many people want to get away from it. It scares away the wildlife. (Honestly, though, I’ve never encountered a Bluetooth speaker that is louder than a family hiking with three kids. Someone is ALWAYS screaming.) Really truly loud noises can actually physically hurt people, and cause mental stress for people who are susceptible.
I’m not saying I want the thing blasting at max. But I understand that people like a soundtrack. It’s another way to experiencing the outdoors. An outdoors that, by the way, I don’t own. I cannot control what the people around me do.
Sure, their noise might cause me a few minutes discomfort as I pass. But my judgement can ruin their joy. And if what we want is for people to get outside, to love the outdoors, we sure do cut off our noses to spite our faces if we tell them they’re doing it “wrong.”
Some areas should be quiet (especially areas where the wildlife need that quiet, it’s their space too). But others? Maybe not. Maybe there’s a kid out there, forming memories of pure bliss as they sit with someone, fishing, listening to music. My inner kid sees that kid. I hope they’re having a wonderful time.
And from a safety standpoint: Yes, sound does scare off the wildlife. And I don’t think that’s always bad. Black bears are more and more numerous on the East Coast. One of the ways to avoid running into them is to make NOISE. I carry a bell, but you know, maybe I could avoid tinnitus with a Bluetooth speaker instead.
Where have you been?
Is it reading about the guy who attempted to smuggle 104 snakes across international borders in his pants? People ask why it’s always the pants but I mean, if you put them in your bags those would get scanned, you’d squish ‘em in your shoes and if you put them in your bra it would tickle like whoa!
Maybe it’s reading about lead in tampons? Don’t worry, it’s about three times LESS lead than is in a cup of tea. And no one knows if it even gets in the body.
Is it this spectacular review of what it’s like to drive a cybertruck? “This is a loud and lonely car for loud and lonely people.”
Or maybe it’s this really lovely piece about the importance of parks, pools, and other low carbon infrastructure? These places are places where people can get cool, be outside, and create community. And they’re good for the planet.
Maybe it’s raising your glasses to this icon, this genius, the social media manager of the @OkWildlifeDepartment.
Where have I been?
I wasn’t ON it, but thank you Riley for giving a shout out to my book on Science Friday!
Anti-Discourse Actions
The Discourse is a lot. As Karen Ho (the coiner of “doomscrolling”) noted “It is reasonable to want to be informed. It is another thing entirely to slowly cook your mind on this platform and/or Twitter reading arm-chair analysis, rage-baiters, endless speculation or graphic descriptions and images of conflict.” She continues to say: DO SOMETHING instead. Dang right, Karen.
Letter writing is ramping up! We are up over 200 and only just getting started.
I’m another two dog sweaters in.
I’m also taking action a way that’s personal to me, for a cause I’m very dedicated to.
*Drag performers are usually the gender of their drag persona when dressed (in this case “she”) and whatever their gender may be out of drag. So there are for example transwomen who are “she” both in and out of drag. In this case, Pattie is “she” in drag and “they” out.
**White. Middle to upper middle class. Abled and in smaller bodies. That’s what I’m saying. They’re white.
I think if people are being responsible towards nature and towards other people then it's fine. People need to be outdoors, in nature, to begin to love nature and want to protect it. The problem, certainly here in the UK, is that too many people are going out into nature and actually being irresponsible.