001: Noises of the Evening

Never quiet, but never loud

The office is never quiet for long, which was something I always appreciated. My need for noise was never satisfied when working in an office that was too quiet, too stagnant; however, in the same breath I never can work when there is too much noise, when it is too loud. A delicate balance, but one I worked hard in life to find.

Evenings provide for me some loud noise, some quiet noise, but noise in general. Whether it is the laughter of clients, the tapping of keyboards or feet to a beat, or even the music that we play on the speakers, noise is always present.

Noise tells a story about a person, who they are, what they value, and why they are working Evenings.

Country always played music with positive meanings about living life, or family. Her phone commonly dings from social media, or text messages from her family, each person having their own personalized sound. That is Country’s values through and through, family first, and that is what her noise is. She was jokingly referred to as the Shift’s mom with both coworkers and the clients, which fit her familial love towards all.

Metal was a loud kind of guy by nature. Whether it be him randomly humming tunes, tapping himself in a drum beat from his past in the band, or just loudly laughing or saying his thoughts out loud, no one could deny the man’s volume and attitude towards life. He knew who he was and he never hid it. His heart was on his sleeve, and his love of people and having fun was never unseen.

Blues was the new guy, a quiet guy, but he had a sense of humor, and a lot of patience. He talked to himself a lot, something I could resonate with, commonly when reading or making plans for himself. He varied up his songs, but he always kept them low volume enough that he could enjoy them, and I could enjoy the soft ambiance of them from across the room. He was a quiet guy, that was just his nature, which I appreciated.

Noise was appreciated, especially when not too loud, and not too quiet, and on Evenings, we found that balance with each other, and with our music.