Loud vehicles are obnoxious and cause a lot of pain and suffering to those who just can’t stand the bump-a-thump of some of the music produced these days. But here’s a thought. Ask the person politely to turn down the music. This approach to noisy neighbors came to our attention through a story told by Councilwoman Dr. Monica Newton.

It seems Newton and her child were walking down the street one day not long ago. They heard loud music and stopped to visit with others who also heard the loud music, and from what Newton said, were resigned to being aggravated by it.

Newton suggested they ask the offensive party to turn down the music. They made the request politely. The offenders didn’t realize their music was so loud. They were so used to playing loud music, they had no idea they were offending others. The music lower several decibels to a proper level. No hard feelings. No anger.

It is amazing how simple solutions produce such reactions.

This is not to say we oppose a noise ordinance. A noise ordinance would come into good stead against those very few people who are stubborn and take pleasure out of disrupting the peace, feeling it is their right to listen to music as loudly as possible.

However, we give a tip of the hat to Newton for approaching what could be a volatile situation in a rational and kind way. Perhaps if we looking on those whose habits bother us as neighbors and treat them as such, we would have less cause to call authorities about annoyances, such as noise, and allow them to handle the larger problems that evolve in our neighborhoods — drugs, assaults, burglaries.