What is a sound, song, spoken word etc that startles, scares, annoys, or evokes concern from you?
This is not a random question. Asking is important. What stirs your senses? It could be life saving. A screeching car or horn may actually mean danger. Look up!
Annoying and startling sounds to me are the loud bangs of the kneelers (like a bench for your knees) in Church. Peace is disrupted when the kneelers are knocked down accidently or without thought. Attend just one time at a Catholic service and you will know exactly what I mean.
Fireworks can be startling and the sound can be confusing. People will say "it sounded like fireworks" after a shooting. When I heard fireworks the other night near Market Square, I looked at my surroundings. Taking into account I live near a sports venue, I said, "The Pirates must have scored." The news, not known to me at the 7 pm time when I was walking through the area, reported that a stabbing had occurred in the Square less than 2 hours before. What sounds accompany a stabbing?
Songs generally bring good thoughts to my brain, but a song can trigger bad vibes as well. Most of us can place ourselves in the past when a song plays from an earlier time. Why is that?
The sound of crying children can be disturbing. Are they hurt, hungry, in a temper tantrum, lost, afraid or sad? Look around at the circumstsnces. ASK if help is needed. Asking saves kids. Gut feelings of concern can be life saving.
A statement that is annoying to me so much so that it is like screeching, scratching chalk on a blackboard. As the priest said at Mass today, now we call them whiteboards. Is the empty dry marker sound annoying? I digress. The statement is:
"We didn't think it could happen here."
That statement is annoying to at least one expert who does trainings on The Clery Act.
https://youtu.be/DpvxGLQnxG0?is=9FlM8dm085h_46tP
See, not a random thought. On common ground with paid experts. What did I know in 1998?
Sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament with the One who knows the whole picture... still sitting with Him after all these years.
Marian R. Carlino
September 25, 2026