Dear Person with the Buzz Saw

Dear person with the buzz saw,

You probably won’t ever read this. After all, why would you? I’m just some random person who lives nearby, completely anonymous to you, writing a rant post on a website you’ve never heard of. And you, you’re a person with a buzz saw, happily doing some DIY. At least, I assume it’s a buzz saw. For all I know, it could be a chain saw. Or an angle grinder. Heck, it might even be some sort of sander. But I don’t know, I’ve never seen it. It belongs to you, someone who lives in one of the nearby apartment blocks.

Either way, it’s a loud thing that makes a lot of noise. A loud, ear-splitting noise that can go on for a good 5-10 seconds at a time. I absolutely hate it. The sound makes me want to grind my teeth together, cover my ears and scream until the sound stops. I don’t do that though, because I’m (supposedly) an adult. Instead, I close the windows and the shutters in a vague attempt to get rid of the noise. Listening to music or whatever doesn’t do anything, sadly. The sound is too high-pitched and loud, and my earbuds are too small.

That piercing sound isn’t the only thing that hurts my poor ears. Babies crying and screaming, cats screeching as they “have fun” and the occasional banging and crashing from random roadworks all send daggers into my skull. We also have the person who seems to hover their apartment for an hour at a time. That’d be absolutely fine if the timings weren’t random, but, honestly, it’s by far the least bad noise here. And, over the weekends, there’s always some idiot boy racer trying to break the land speed record in their Honda Civic on a nearby straight road. Kid, you’re not going to do it.

But there’s something about the buzz saw that really grinds my gears. I absolutely hate it. To the point that I get worryingly angry about it. That’s somewhat reasonable though, right? No one likes the sound of buzz saws. However, you, the person with the buzz saw, you’re quite lucky. You have ear protection. And hopefully eye protection and all the proper safety gear as well. After all, you don’t want to hurt yourself, now, do you? On the other hand, I’d be very happy if I never heard a buzz saw or similar noise again. I hate that noise so much that I’d rather go deaf for the duration of that noise, than have to listen to it.

I can’t even put into words how much I hate that noise. And I’m a dedicated writer who can pump out an article about almost anything. There are some emotions that I can’t describe, and the hatred I have towards that buzz saw noise is one of them.

Here’s the thing though. I don’t hate you. I harbour no ill intent for you, despite the almost physical pain that buzz saw does to me. You’re having fun. Or you’re working. Or you’re doing DIY. I honestly have no idea. Whatever it is, that buzz saw is important to you.  And I admire how you can put up with that thing, because I certainly can’t.

However, I do have one request though. Please, please, for the love of all that is good, please don’t use that damned thing after 7pm. And preferably not before 10am either. Please. I can’t stand it.

And before the rest of you people all say “just go to the person and ask them not to”, well, I’m an introverted nervous wreck. Some things are easier said and done. But frankly, I don’t think a polite request to stop would do much anyway. A person and their buzz saw are hard to part with.