a non-religious but spiritual quandry

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by jdmulli

I think playing ANY music in an office environment is inconsiderate.

Along with gossip, loud talking, personal conversations, innappropriate conversations.

Like I read some where else here, if you are getting paid for it, suck it up. If not, then, there's the door,

H

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by fazool

This not a religious topic nor debate....stay focused people don't discuss/argue religion.




My office-mate plays a certain genre of music from his radio very frequently. It's not about his behavior - I'm fine with that. I don't mind.

Here is my issue:

I'm OK with, and even embrace, the message but I really dislike the music.

I mean, here is my dilemma, I feel guilty disliking this music. Almost like its sacrilege to feel that there is no flow, no musicality, the lyrics aren't musical - like it's forced.

Sorry.......I feel guilty about feeling guilty about not liking the music........

Just buy him one of these https://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRF59SILVER-Walkman-Stereo-Radio/dp/B00006JQ06/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1487193810&s r=1-11

[Silurian]

Fight fire with fire. Play some death metal...
REALLY LOUD!

[Truckjohn]

It's a hard question because there are so many musical preferences...

The other side is that some people listen because they really like the music... Others listen because they are *supposed* to like the music... I find that there's a lot of religious music in this second category out there... Aka - you are supposed to like it because it checks off these 6 check boxes and is thus approved...

It's kinda unfortunate - because it turns people off who would actually listen to the good stuff..

The real truth of it is that unfortunately - religious leaders and the "old timers" are the ones who prevent the good stuff from getting out there.. They complain about it endlessly because it isnt the kind of music they "like" or whatever...

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by jdmulli

I think playing ANY music in an office environment is inconsiderate.

I agree. It's on the same level as that guy who whistles!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

...Rap music...

My second-favorite oxymoron - can't mention the first here...

[patchmcg]

As a church musician for...well, a very long time now....I am perfectly comfortable saying that no genre is exempt from poorly written/performed music. Thankfully, the same can be said for well written/performed music. If you think about it though, given any genre from any era, how much of the music truly stands the test of time?

We call them classics for a reason.

As far as whether or not it's appropriate for your work environment, I'm not about to leap to conclusions without a parachute AND a safety net. I simply do not know enough about the circumstances.

As a matter of practical advice, if he won't wear earbuds, hopefully there's nothing stopping you.

FWIW, I close my office door when I'm playing music, either on speakers or on my own guitar. And I happen to work in a religious environment and listen to a lot of religious music.

[Timon]

Does your office/company/work place not have respectful work place rules? One of them is to deal with "noise levels".
Does not matter what the genre is. Turn it down or turn it off.

[Chicago Sandy]

Our parents (well, mine—I’m 66 and your mileage may vary) couldn’t understand why we liked rock & roll—they thought it was primitive jungle music that required no musical expertise to play. And I’d bet their parents thought the same about jazz. So every time I wince when my millennial (almost but not quite Gen-X) son plays hip-hop, I remind myself of that.

And then I remember his tastes are extremely eclectic—his playlists (and the concerts he attends) also include all forms of rock (other than religious & death metal), folk, reggae, old-time country, Delta & electric blues, R&B, Americana, Tejano, Cajun/Zydeco, punk, classical and even some Broadway (from shows he remembers to which we took him when he was little). He does draw the line at techno & dance music, though.

I don’t think I’ll ever have tastes that eclectic. But he does listen through headphones. I think it’s just common courtesy.

[Seby]

Originally Posted by Silurian

Fight fire with fire. Play some death metal...
REALLY LOUD!

Morbid Angel's Blessed are the Sick should do nicely : )

[Bob Womack]

You know, I experienced the exact opposite problem earlier in my life. I was going to a small Christian college and one summer I stayed around to work on the maintenance gang to earn money for school. The college had been given a house nearby and we were allowed to stay their rent-free. Being a bit of a rock and roller (okay, a lot of a rock and roller - calling me flamboyant would be an understatement) I would get up every morning, put on the brand new Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Works album and specifically Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," crank it up loud, and joyfully take my shower. The last notes of the piece rang out as I dried off. What an invigorating way to start the day!!! Woo-hoo!!!



Get up to around 6:00 and the tone of the synth gets more and more strident as Emerson applies HF modulation to his voltage controlled filters. It gets and stays ragged until the 8:00 mark when the band returns to an even louder restatement of Copeland's theme to close out the piece. That'll clean out your ears first thing in the morning!

Over time it began to dawn on me that the walls in this 1950s house were paper thin - every whisper passed through them. Of course, early every the morning that sort of cogitating was practically impossible, so my morning celebration continued on. And then, the last week of the summer before the semester began and we moved back on campus, all of us workers were sitting on the back stoop of the house having a BBQ to celebrate the summer. I was sitting next to my friend Randy, who was an extremely fundamentalist, conservative believer to whom rock and rock was anathema, when for some reason I brought up the fact that I loved waking up to "Fanfare for the Common Man." Randy smiled at me, a gentle, friendly smile, and said, "Yeah, I know." He then said, "Every morning I get up at the same time as you to meditate and pray." All of a sudden it clicked - his desk where he did his morning quiet time was about fifteen inches away, across the paper thin wall, from the back of my speakers that were blasting away the Fanfare.

He'd put up with my vigorous morning routine interrupting his prayers for three months without making a sound.

I was horrified. He was forgiving and conciliatory. I'm still amazed.

Bob

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Silurian

Fight fire with fire. Play some death metal...
REALLY LOUD!

Thst would be my take, but passive-agressive behavior is one of my biggest character flaws.

[chitz]

Music in the workplace is a very touchy subject.

Before I retired, at my work we had XM radio and lot's of choices that often led to conflicts as you can imagine since our ages were from late 20s to 60 year olds.

Solution became obvious since there were 5 of us in our department.

Everyone got a day. And no one was allowed to change the channel.

I used to play the Village mostly, but if the youngun's play too much rap, I'd play the Disney channel on my day.

I've been gone 3 years now, and they still do this I'm told. Peace prevails.

[fazool]

first-world problems I know.

I gues my "dilemma" is twofold: 1) surviving soemone else's music in the workplace. I wear my earbuds so that's one topic. and 2) I feel like I am "supposed to" like this music and I really can't. Sorry - no offense to those who like it. I'm not criticising that. Different styles for different tastes. My "issue" is not the music, but my inability to admit to myself that I don't like it.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by fazool

I feel like I am "supposed to" like this music and I really can't. Sorry - no offense to those who like it. I'm not criticising that. Different styles for different tastes. My "issue" is not the music, but my inability to admit to myself that I don't like it.

I'm still with you. I totally get it. It's easy to feel guilty about not liking something with such a positive message. Same goes for me and certain types of movies put out by certain publishing houses sold at certain types of bookstores.

My faith is pretty darn strong because I try to concentrate more so on the source of my faith, not the vanilla-based entertainment that it produces here in America. My faith is anything but vanilla. I think I need to stop there.