I felt irritated by this experience when I was having it. When I got home I felt like just a grumpy old man………….
The other day I was walking down the main street of Midleton and listening to cheesy christmas music. The sound was coming out of those old outdoor speaker cone horn type thingos like you used to see at carnivals in the 70ʼs. They were tied to the telegraph poles at regular intervals at a height that doesnʼt permit attacking them with your bare hands.
The look, the sound, the ambiance provided with these speakers and the hastily made, rough looking lame plywood “jesus in a manger” display outside the bank made me feel as though I had arrived in a catholic theme park where pedophile priests will leap out from women’s wear shops and attack your kids at any moment as part of the entertainment.
Some bright spark in the local council thought this muzak was a good idea. Help us all get into the mood. Amplified muzak in shops is one thing but on the street is the claiming of the last refuge from all that shit by “a higher power” i.e. christian councilors or chamber of commerce members who just claim that public space and spray their tasteless sights and sounds at you. It feels like they just want to extinguish any tiny bit of freedom you maybe feeling in public going about your business calmly and quietly. Maybe itʼs a new trend? What next? Cheesy bank advertisements broadcast on every bank holiday? All the other religions getting their shit broadcast marking their holy days? “This is our space” they proclaim from the poles and “fuck you if you donʼt dig it. Suck it up citizen, youʼre in the gulag now.” Happy Christmas
A great article: Forced merriment: The true spirit of Christmas
