Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Music during Dinner in the C/H?

[Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2]

   The main problem with music during meals at a
Common House is the difficulty it presents for those
with some hearing loss--it can make the difference
between being able to understand and participate in
the dinner table conversation (which is after all an
important part of community building) and not being
able to.  I would say unless your community is all
young and with no hearing impairment and all
universally like music with their meals it's best to
have none during common dinners.  Just the shear
number of people talking makes it difficult enough to
follow the conversation without other aural
distractions.  It also matters what sort of acoustics
and sound dampening arrangements your common house
has.  
   At Swan's Market we usually don't have music at
common dinner but once in a while on a special
occasion (the most recent being our Carnival
celebration) the cooks ask for and get a special
dispensation to have music during dinner and that
seems like a good compromise to me.  As usual though
each community decides for itself.  I just hope that
the accessibility issue is considered in this
decision.
                  Bonnie Fergusson
                  Swan's Market Cohousing
                  Oakland, CA
           


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