My crusade against Thundering Bass

Sunday, March 6th, 2005 | Personal, The House

I loved the nasty weather we recently had here in Philly. Well, I hated the weather but loved that it kept the BP gas station across the street from my house quiet. Or as I call it, Club BP. People stayed home. The few that did come out weren’t in the mood to blast their music while they pumped gas.

The sun came out this weekend and brought with it the audiophilles with which Thundering Bass keeps company. It’s worst when these people are cleaning their cars at one of 4 of the station’s vacuum cleaners. I can actually sit on my porch and watch the little fucker that thinks he’s so cool as he cleans the floormats of his truck.

Club BP in full effect

I’ve got to do something.

So today I went to Staples, bought a bunch of envelope labels and printed a sign on them: “Please be mindful of our neighbors by keeping your car stereo volume low.” When the attendant wasn’t looking, I stuck them to every vacuum cleaner and 9 of the 12 gas pumps. The other 3 were too close to the attendant to risk it. Maybe I’ll stop by next week and pump gas at each of the remaining pumps using my car as cover as I post the rest of my signs.

So far, so good. I know my strategy won’t completely stop Thundering Bass from coming into my home uninvited. But if it reduces the frequency of his visits at all, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

Update: I went back the next day during rush hour and slapped my sign on the remaining 3 pumps. Success! It might just be my imagination, but Thundering Bass hasn’t been around much in the last 4 days. Coincidence? I hope not.

The sign I made