Restaurants Managers - Lower the Volume Now!

Over the last year, I've begun to notice a growing phenomenon in some of my favorite restaurants. Where the establishment used to provide canned music or music from a local radio station as a background enhancement, the volume has been cranked up so that unfortunate diners sitting near a speaker can barely carry on a conversation. To make matters worse, misguided restaurant owners have chosen to add one or more television sets to the dining area - and turn up the volume so the programs can be heard over the canned music.

Does anybody else see something wrong here?

I first began to pay attention to this sort of thing when a friend of mine was diagnosed with a panic disorder. Basically, a panic attack could come on if there was too much going on around him for his oversensitized nerves to handle. Determined not to become a hermit, he kept earplugs and anti-anxiety medication in his pocket all the time.

Unfortunately, his private arsenal was no match for some of his favorite places to eat. There were too many different noises fighting for his attention and the combination drove him up the wall. He ended up eating at restaurants that had the good grace to provide either a television or music for patrons, but not both. He also found a precious few that did (gasp!) managed to stay in business without music or televisions in their dining rooms.

As I tried to support him in his recovery, I began to see some of our favorite places to eat through his eyes. And I didn't like what I saw.

In some restaurants, there was no way to carry on a conversation without shouting over the din caused by dueling televisions and the musical accompaniment. Other places did it one better, with one of them having five different televisions set to five different programs. To top it off, they were piping in a feed from a local radio station.

The more I saw, the more I thought about people with nervous conditions due to age, emotional trauma, or some physical illness that temporarily makes their nerves very raw. While most of us find all this extra noise in our favorite eateries to be nothing more than mildly irritating, it is making life a living hell for others.

And how would we feel if that living hell became our own?

Restaurant managers, get a clue! If your place of business must have piped music and televisions going at the same time, set some ground rules. Keep all the televisions on the same station. Cut the music down while the televisions are on. And place the televisions and the speakers for the music system so there are at least a couple of sections of the dining room where your patrons can get away from both of them if they want. You may find that your customers will appreciate your efforts more than you ever thought possible.