To the editor:

As a newcomer to the South End, I thought I was the only one enduring noise pollution here until I read the pitiful plea from that couple in Freeland in the last edition.

I live just down the road from a place which is either a New Age retreat or a Subaru dealership, and at night I swear I can almost hear them meditating. Add to that the lowing and mooing of the cows that my neighbor keeps across the creek, and it’s pure cacophony.

Another irritant is the freakin’ songbirds around here who start yammering away just before dawn and don’t let up until well after dark.

It’s a rare night that goes by without some inconsiderate ship captain out on the Sound blowing his whistle, and can you believe the noisy planes that insist on flying over my island?

I stand firmly behind that couple as they take a proactive role in the community by telling their neighbors when and how often they should mow their lawns and clean their driveways. The same goes to the author of the next letter, in which the writer sobbed about his neighbors’ fireworks.

Sniveling alone won’t solve their problems, though. I urge them to take the next step, which is to rat out their neighbors every time their sensibilities are offended. There is a great venue for that, and it is the 911 call. Take a look at any “Sheriff’s Report.” “Oooh, my neighbors’ horse looks skinny!”

“Oooh, their music’s too loud!” “Hey, that guy’s car swerved!” “Oooh, that dog just barked!” “Awww, their barbecue is smoking!”

If whining and snitching is art, then the “Sheriff’s Report” is Fine Art.

I urge my fellow citizens to keep up this frenzy of weeping and howling and snitching and ratting until everyone else on the island is behaving as we (and only we) see fit.

Eric Purser

Clinton