My family and I went to a new restaurant for dinner this evening. We arrived a few minutes before they opened, so we stood outside to wait. The music blaring from the speakers over the door was so loud we could barely hear each other without yelling. I was concerned that this would be representative of what was going on in the dining room, and my concerns would soon be revealed to be warranted.

The music in the dining room was just loud enough to drown out the voices of the people at the other end of our table of seven. We asked the lady who sat us if the music could be turned down, and she said, “Absolutely.” If she actually turned it down, it was a negligible amount.

What is this trend of loud music in restaurants? Is everyone enjoying it? Or am I the odd man out? Do people really like yelling across the table to their dining companions and shouting their orders to their servers?