All I want is a little peace and quiet
2015-Jan-29, Thursday 11:34
Last weekend, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
schoolpsychnerd and I took a trip to King Spa, which I normally wouldn't bother writing about, but I had kind of an odd reaction to it--I found it really stressful.
I've been once before a few weeks ago, and one of the people we went with mentioned that it was uncharacteristically empty. There were a couple dozen other people there, but about half the tables in the cafeteria were empty and most of the remaining ones had one or two people, the chairs were empty, the sauna rooms had one or two people or were empty, and it was otherwise mostly our playground. In contrast, last weekend there were lines outside some of the sauna rooms and the cafeteria was jam-packed to the point that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
drydem commented that with all the identical spa clothes and people sitting at small tables it felt like being in a prison.
I found it impossible to relax and ended up heading upstairs to the quiet room with the couches to read The Roads to Sata, but even there I was interrupted by the occasional person chatting or one incredibly rude old woman on her cell phone. Despite the interruptions, lying down up there was the best part of the trip, and as soon as I left the upstairs room and went back into the main area I just wanted to leave immediately. I ended up going home even more wound up than I had been when I arrived, and it reminded me a lot of a day working at Suzugamine.
But I'm writing about this because of how odd I found it. I'm not...hmm. I was going to say "I'm not usually bothered by crowds," but that's not entirely true. I'm fine with crowded cities and usually with crowded public events, but I'd had to leave parties before because I found the atmosphere oppressive for no reason relating to the people there. The spa had a bit of that feeling to it as well. Though it might have just been all the people talking. Relaxing, for me, usually means quiet, with maybe some music or a podcast on. The constant low murmur of conversations around me but not too me is exhausting.
Hmm. That's probably it, really. I get unreasonably annoyed when co-workers are talking around my cubicle, or even a row away, and I'm sure anyone reading this knows my feelings about people talking on the L or the bus. And while that's just a personal quirk under most circumstances since I don't go around yelling at people to shut up, it did completely sabotage the spa visit.schoolpsychnerd are thinking of trying to go again, but on a weekday for lunch that we both have off but that isn't a holiday, in order to minimize the number of people there. Maybe then I'll actually feel like the visit was restful.
schoolpsychnerd and I took a trip to King Spa, which I normally wouldn't bother writing about, but I had kind of an odd reaction to it--I found it really stressful.I've been once before a few weeks ago, and one of the people we went with mentioned that it was uncharacteristically empty. There were a couple dozen other people there, but about half the tables in the cafeteria were empty and most of the remaining ones had one or two people, the chairs were empty, the sauna rooms had one or two people or were empty, and it was otherwise mostly our playground. In contrast, last weekend there were lines outside some of the sauna rooms and the cafeteria was jam-packed to the point that
drydem commented that with all the identical spa clothes and people sitting at small tables it felt like being in a prison. I found it impossible to relax and ended up heading upstairs to the quiet room with the couches to read The Roads to Sata, but even there I was interrupted by the occasional person chatting or one incredibly rude old woman on her cell phone. Despite the interruptions, lying down up there was the best part of the trip, and as soon as I left the upstairs room and went back into the main area I just wanted to leave immediately. I ended up going home even more wound up than I had been when I arrived, and it reminded me a lot of a day working at Suzugamine.
But I'm writing about this because of how odd I found it. I'm not...hmm. I was going to say "I'm not usually bothered by crowds," but that's not entirely true. I'm fine with crowded cities and usually with crowded public events, but I'd had to leave parties before because I found the atmosphere oppressive for no reason relating to the people there. The spa had a bit of that feeling to it as well. Though it might have just been all the people talking. Relaxing, for me, usually means quiet, with maybe some music or a podcast on. The constant low murmur of conversations around me but not too me is exhausting.
Hmm. That's probably it, really. I get unreasonably annoyed when co-workers are talking around my cubicle, or even a row away, and I'm sure anyone reading this knows my feelings about people talking on the L or the bus. And while that's just a personal quirk under most circumstances since I don't go around yelling at people to shut up, it did completely sabotage the spa visit.
schoolpsychnerd are thinking of trying to go again, but on a weekday for lunch that we both have off but that isn't a holiday, in order to minimize the number of people there. Maybe then I'll actually feel like the visit was restful.
