Letter: Noise naggers take note, not everyone likes a quiet life

CONGRATULATIONS to Claire Tomalin on her excellent account of the maddening effects of uninvited loud music ('A pain in the ears', 21 August). I feel sure that any public opinion poll would confirm that a sizeable proportion of the population are of like mind.

A particularly annoying example is to be switched to inane electronic music while waiting to speak to someone on the telephone. I have never been asked whether I would prefer silence, or even given a choice of what I would like to hear. There is simply an assumption that one should listen to whatever is plugged in. What right do others have to decide what we should hear?

David L Crosby

Cardiff