the sounds of silence
Posted October 4th, 2007 by ellengrover
Our clinic is loft-like. It would, in fact, be a big loft if it weren't for the front desk area smack dab in the middle of everything. Heck, maybe it still is a loft, I don't know. In any case, the walls do not reach the 19-foot ceilings, and this makes for travelling sound. Even though they are made of compressed wheatboard which absorbs sound and looks really nice, and when the HVAC fan is on we have some serious white noise, sometimes the loft situation can be a little problematic in terms of creating a quiet environment for our patients.
As an aside, let me say this: I love it when my patients sleep. Not a requirement, but still, it's great to see them "out," especially a whole pod of them. We'll take a peek around the corner and then come back to report "they're out," feeling all proud and happy about it. The other day one of my patients said "I don't really have anything going on, I just want to take a nap."
So I get more than a little irked with sounds that could potentially wake a sleeping patient. I write this blog so that others may avoid the following pitfalls:
#1: paper towel dispenser. You may recall that before we opened I had been hemming and hawing on this decision. Tri-fold or roll? etc. Well Korben and I went with the roll dispenser, the kind that you scroll down with a lever. So it was much to my dismay when I realized how loud the sucker is! I still love them, but next time I would go with the silent Tri- or C-folds in a heartbeat.
#2: PINPAD machine, you know, the kind you enter your pin # into everywhere you go. Four words here: BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! Really, really loud. And to make matters worse, it is impossible to change the volume - we were on hold with the company for many minutes only to discover that. The kind of beep you would never notice at the supermarket. The kind of beep that will wake someone out of a sound sleep, like an alarm clock does. Ouch.
There are other sounds around our clinic, but they aren't as annoying since they have nothing to do with poorly thought out decisions. Fire sirens are frequently excruciating, and miraculously, people seem to be able to sleep through them. Sometimes the bike shop people downstairs forget about us and decide they need to listen to Slayer just when someone in the corner is nodding off. Not exactly restful music.
In general, the loft sound situation is not the problem we had anticipated pre-opening. The only remaining question I have is this: which would be worse, a pesky fly landing on you while you are trying to sleep, or the thwat of a swatter mid-snooze?
Re: the sounds of silence
I think it's also a matter of trust. They trust you, and when they slide into acu-land, if there's any danger whatsoever, they know you'll wake them, so they just drop everything and slide over the edge into bliss.
Re: the sounds of silence
Thanks for the post Ellen-
Wow, Lisa-what a story!
Just wanted to add my 2 cents. The most frequent "noise" disturbance we have so far, is that being in Florida, we treat a lot of seniors. I have a little sign posted on the front door about the clinic being a quiet zone and to please use inside voices and turn off cell phones. But no matter, whenever our seniors come in they shout. Due to their hard of hearing, I suppose they live in a world where they have a hard time hearing and figure that no one else can hear them either.
Melonie
Re: the sounds of silence
Great post Ellen, and great stories, everyone! The bit about Slayer cracked me up (when they all become regular patients they might remember not to "Bring the Noise" - oh wait, or was that Anthrax? and Public Enemy, of course...) I myself dropped a whole bundle of plastic suction cups on the floor the other day, and everyone forgave me (everyone who even noticed).
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Shhhh!
I'm trying to sleep here!
Re: the sounds of silence
i think it really helps tp lower your own expectations around the level of noise and lack of it.
the thing is (in my experience of living an urban life, anyway) that silence is a rare and precious commodity in our crazy world. (i've been spending this week in new york visiting my family, so this point is really being driven home for me.)
i noticed that patients who live in the same community as i do, are pretty much used to how noisy (or quiet) that community tends to be. the quan yin clinic in san francisco where i work is in the noisy mission district. our community treatment space is surrounded by walls that do not go all the way up to the ceiling. our back door is often open for air and the alley behind the building often resonates with drunken singing, arguing, yelling, selling drugs, dragging of rattling shopping carts full of rattly objects, you get the picture. yep, most patients sleep like babies through it all. the ones tha are too sensitive are offered earplugs. some folks bring their ipod and we let them use it as long as it is not audible by other patients. i also noticed that as patients get more into the regular acupuncture, they are less bothered by noise and go to sleep easier. i had a guy who brought his ipod every time for months, and lately stopped bringing it and is usually snoring 5 minutes after the needles go in.
-tatyana
Re: the sounds of silence
Lovely post, Ellen...
I have a story to add about what people will sleep through. The first year I had my clinic, our building tended to attract chaotic energy (not enough acupuncture yet to smooth things out). The bakery next door was robbed at gunpoint, cars in the parking lot got broken into...but what really took the cake was the day that the building was surrounded by a SWAT team. I looked up from my desk to see guys running down the sidewalk in body armor, and then one of them opened the front door, stuck his head in, and said, "Ma'am, please lock your door until we tell you to open it. And stay away from the windows." It turned out they were chasing a man who was armed (with a knife, not a gun, but they didn't know that until he surrendered). He had taken refuge on the roof of our building -- right behind the clinic. I had two patients in the clinic at the time, both snoring. They continued to snore while the SWAT team negotiated with the guy on the roof through bullhorns; they snored through the noise of ladders smacking the back wall of the clinic; they snored through the pounding feet of the SWAT team as they ran over the roof and arrested the guy. I told them about it when they woke up, because they woke up before I'd gotten the OK to open the door (even though it was all over by then, I wasn't about to quibble with the guys with the guns) and I had to explain to them why we were all locked in. They were still somewhat in acu-land, still blissed out, so they had much less of a reaction than you might expect. They waited patiently until we were allowed to open the door. Later on I had other patients tell me they'd seen the whole thing on the news. I'm very, very happy not to have to deal with that sort of thing anymore, but it's sort of nice to have as a reference point.
Re: the sounds of silence
I remember living at Abhayagiri, a monastery in Redwood City, California, during the summertime. They had just purchased the property and we meditated in a small cottage during the midst of a heat wave with temperatures in the mid 90s. The refrigerator was right next to the meditation room and its noisy motor would turn on and off. Eventually - probably due to the power of the other meditators - it just became another meaningless background noise that the mind screened out.
To add to the fun, flies were always buzzing around, dropping in and probably drinking the beads of sweat on your body. I remember once one landing on my face and crawling across my lips. With practice, one could even learn to ignore this.
Not that I suggest attempting to enforce these practices on your patients, but perhaps there is a compromise short of killing other living beings. Widespread killing surely brings a lot of negative karma to the planet and increases our collective load of suffering.
Catching flies and bees is very simple with a glass or cup, trapping them against the wall, slipping a piece of paper underneath, then releasing them outside. Of course, it does take time sometimes and the fly can lead you on a little journey around the room. Other times, you can herd them out an open window.
Most important of all don't freak out, even if you think you are doing a good job of hiding your frustration inside. Your subtle energy will no longer be in synch with the relaxed energy of people cooking with needles. People will sense your discomfort and it will trigger their discomfort.
Our clinic is upstairs from a foodbank. Sometimes they play music a little loud, and toss 50 pound bags of grain around..."thud....thud"...but if you act like its just life in the community - nothing special, you'd be surprised at people's ability to ignore stuff when they are in aculand. Or maybe not for those of you who have seen this play out over the years.
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Our clinic is next door to a pet store that has numerous parrots as well as other birds. We here them (as well as people) through the wall quite clearly.
Silence RARELY happens.
However, our clients still sleep, and many comment on the bird sounds, saying they enjoy them and that they remind them of..._______.
Perhaps we have lost some clients due to our noisy neighbors. Too bad... for them.
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There has been construction going on across the street from my clinic for the last few months. It's been challenging trying to create a relaxing environment amidst a jackhammer. They should be finishing up this week and I can reclaim the silence!
Usually it's pretty quiet, there can be traffic noise and there are apartments upstairs (sometimes on holidays or friday nights the neighbors rock out). Music and fountains can help drown out most noises
As far as the fly thing goes - I've had that problem a couple of times when a stray fly gets into the office and torments the people who are immobilized by needles. I can't really run around with a flyswatter, but I did find a sticky trap that you can discreetly hang somewhere, It's better than flypaper and looks like an air freshener.