Audio Mismatches. (Gym Slips 12.)

They play canned music at the gym. Mostly it is loud. That's often the way in gyms.

But the management knows, that because their client base ranges in age from 16 to about 90, not everybody appreciates high decibel disco, so thoughtfully they have provided a period between 10:00 to 14:00 where the music is played very quietly or even, is off altogether. (Heavenly.)

You would have thought that the members themselves would accept this and fit in with the scheme, as dictated by their personal preferences.

Not a bit of it. One elderly lady will always try to get the music switched off, even outside the quiet period. She refuses to wear ear protectors and she does not care that other user's wish for and are within their rights to listen to some inspirational sound, while pumping iron and heart muscles.

Another chap just can't get enough volume. He does not ask to ramp up the volume, he just opens up the control box cabinet and ups the level himself, if none of the attendants are nearby.

Many people use their own headsets to listen to their own music on phones and iPod's,  whilst others use them to listen to the TV programs available on the screens attached to the exercise machines. If the ambient sound in the gym is too high, they often find it difficult to hear these other sounds.

It is hard to satisfy everyone. That is the sound-bite for today.