TORONTO – With the Canadian International Air Show occurring this weekend, medical professionals are advising residents to wear earplugs to protect them from the deafening noise of Torontonians complaining about it.
“People don’t realize the damage they are doing to themselves by listening to downtown residents whine about how they couldn’t watch television over the noise,” says Dr. Mostafa Ali, a professor at the University of Toronto’s audiology department. “Adults should be wearing earplugs. Young children are especially sensitive, and ideally should have earmuffs completely covering their ears.”
Researchers say the sound of Torontonians whining about mechanical marvels of human ingenuity taking people higher and faster than our ancestors could ever have dreamed measures anywhere from 100 to 150 decibels. For comparison, the loudest rock concert is around 120 decibels. Scientists say that when at full speed, a bitching Torontonian can produce 10 to 20 thousand pounds of thrust. For this reason, people are advised to stay well back.
Health officials are using the opportunity to remind people to protect their hearing from Toronto residents not just during the air show, but during the rest of the year as well.
“A lot of people don’t realize that hearing damage is cumulative,” says Ministry of Health hearing loss specialist Theresa Marks. “When combined with Torontonians’ routine moaning about road closures, parties, festivals, tall buildings, and anything else that produces audible emanations of human joy, this bitching about briefly seeing skilled men and women soar like eagles is piercing enough to gradually cause distorted sound, muffled hearing, and even tinnitus.”
Marks says taking preventative measures is easy.
“We recommend carrying earplugs, and wearing them every time you go to a neighbourhood with lots of single gear bikes and No Jets TO lawn signs. Research has shown that not only will it protect your hearing, it will also make you happier.”
