The phone rings and I answer.
"This is Dave, how can I help you?"
It's a woman who is calling from an apartment complex across the street, at least a hundred yards away. She says our TVs are keeping her awake.
There are TVs at each of the gas-pumping stations, playing news and running ads saying things like, "Cold? Come on in for a hot cup of coffee!" . . . "Don't forget snacks for the road! We carry an assortment of favorite snacks and beverages!" . . . "Come in!" . . . NOW! . . "YES! You! Come in!" . . . "Spend more money!" . . .
Seems a bit Orwellian.
They're pretty quiet. Granted, I have bad hearing, but I can hardly hear them 20 feet away. Others, with good hearing, might have difficulty from 30 feet away. It's difficult to believe they could keep someone awake from a football-fields distance on a brutally cold night when I imagine windows must be shut.
Still, I was empathetic.
"I am sorry to hear that," I say. "I do not know how to shut them off, but I will pass it on to the manager in the morning. Would you like to give me your name and number in case she wants to call you?"
"NO!" she snapped. "I want them shut off NOW!"
"I am sorry," I repeat, "But I do not know how to shut them off. The best I can do is pass your complaint on to my manager in the morning."
"NO!" she snaps again. "SHUT THEM OFF NOW!"
"I am sorry, but I don't know how to shut them off, I will have to wait until the manager arrives in the morning."
"NO! CALL YOUR MANAGER NOW!" she yells.
"I am sorry, but I am not going to call and wake up my manager right now, but I assure you I will let her know in the morning."
"CALL HER NOW! RIGHT NOW!"
"I am sorry, but I will not do that," I say.
"THEN I WILL CALL THE POLICE!" she says.
It just so happened there was a policeman at the store, chatting with me. He overheard my conversation and I explained. He said I handled it well. It wasn't long before he gets a call on his radio; it's in regards to the woman complaining about the noise from our TVs. The policeman explained to me how, in response to such complaints, he will use a device that measures decibel levels to see if the noise is in violation of the law and could reasonably be considered a nuisance. He said our TVs were clearly not in violation and he, too, wondered how someone might hear them from the apartments across the street. The traffic on the road between the store and the apartments is far louder.
He did point out to me that our TVs are kicked on by a motion sensor when someone pulls in for gas, and they shut off when nobody is there. (I did not know that.) At two of the stations the sensors were not working and the TVs remained on, nonstop.
I let the manager know (when morning came). They will soon be fixed.
In the meantime, perhaps nocturnal subliminal messages will kick in and the woman will come in and purchase lots of snacks and beverages.
"COME IN! SPEND MORE MONEY NOW! . . . COME IN! NOW! SPEND MORE MONEY NOW! . . . COME IN! NOW! SPEND MORE MONEY NOW . . . COME IN . . . "
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