by Matt Barr

Buzz off

You can't hear this sound. But Muffin can, and it makes Junior's ears hurt. (Part of his Asperger Syndrome is an overly acute sense of hearing that makes him hear -- and unable to tune out -- faraway and background noises.)

A convenience store in Barry, Wales is piping this sound out where kids used to loiter. ("It was as if someone had used anti-teenage spray at the entrance.") You can hear it up until you're about age 20, when age-related hearing loss kicks in. (IHT via PTN)

Giving me hope for the future, teenagers are now using the sound as a ringtone so they can get calls and text messages during class.

It was uncanny. Without saying what it was in advance, I played it and my wife and I couldn't hear it at all, Muffin looked at me like, why are you playing that high-pitched sound?, and Junior said "ahhh!" winced and covered his ears.

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