I have to admit, if being cranky lengthens your life span, then I owe the Sunday farmer's market a debt of gratitude.
Yep, they're back to playing music so loud that I could play "Name That Tune" from inside my house with the windows closed from 800 feet away. So let's call it around 50 decibels. The kids' row seats are conveniently placed 8 feet in front of the amplifiers so they have space to stand up and dance to the music that is ruining their lifelong hearing.
So... factor of 100 by the inverse square law becomes 10,000, or 40 decibels higher, putting it right at... the 90 decibel level that's just above the threshold for permanent hearing loss over prolonged exposure ("eight hours of exposure to sounds measuring 90 dB can damage the human ear").
Frankly, if I ever hear about a class action lawsuit against the farmer's market for permanent hearing loss, I'll gladly join in as a material witness. I've written them multiple times on the issue, linked in the official government recommendations to keep music under 85 decibels, offered to purchase them a decibel meter free of charge so they can enforce that standard...
...and all they ever do is turn the music down on days that I complain. If I don't complain, the music stays loud enough to hurt the kids' ears.And so I remain cranky.
EDIT: And to be clear, I don't mind if a concert exceeds 100 dB; everyone there knows what they're getting into. But a farmer's market? As I've mentioned before, many of the vendors have expressed their frustration that they lose sales because the music is so loud customers can't communicate and walk away. I've been thanked by at least four of the vendors for asking that the music be turned down.
If the primary purpose of the event isn't the music (farmer's market, Solano Stroll, etc.), then the music shouldn't drown out all other sounds, conversation included.
Man.
You are sounding OLD.
Eh? What's that, sonny? I can't hear a word you're a-sayin' unless they turn this bediddley-danged gramophone DOWN!!!