RE: Must-read newspaper articles

[Peter Donnelly <skookum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have never been on a silent retreat, at least not since high school, but 
some years ago a group of us who were kayaking in Barkley Sound decided to 
make the last morning of the trip a silent one. We got up and packed up the 
boats without a word, got in, and paddled five miles. We passed a group of 
outbound paddlers who wanted to chat and they must have thought we were 
very odd people, not answering them! But to enjoy the stillness of that 
place without human chatter was really amazing.

----------
From: 	Noise - Citizens Against[SMTP:cg343@freenet.toronto.on.ca]
Reply To: 	quiet-list@igc.org
Sent: 	Friday, May 23, 1997 10:19 AM
To: 	quiet-list@igc.org
Subject: 	Re: Must-read newspaper articles

Hi Michael,

>
>    I think frowning on speech is going a little too far.  One
>    of my complaints about our modern noise culture is
>    that it is suppressing human conversation and conviviality.
>
   I must say, I was  quite surprised when I read that. Here's an excerpt:

 "The lack of speech takes some getting used to.
The need to  communicate is constant. It's
during mealtime that the silence is most
noticeable. Buffet-style meals are served at
specific times during the day in a large dining
hall. Special dietary-need meals wait on a side
counter, next to a name card. Retreatants sit six
to a table, 30 people in total, and not a word is
spoken.
 As time wares <sic> on, fellow
retreatants become accustomed to communicating
silently. Gestures assume the place of
words."


         - Eric