Some 7-Eleven convenience stores Across the country, including in Texas and California, loud classical music and opera are beginning to be used as a tactic to deter homeless people from camping out in front of their storefronts.
One Texas 7-Eleven owner says the goal is to deter homeless individuals from being there and harassing customers. Some customers say they are all for the music, while others get annoyed by it.
The shopkeeper, Jagat Patel, He says nobody from the Austin Police Department Despite officials receiving multiple noise complaints for blasting classic tunes. He doesn’t know if the actual decibel level falls within the city’s ordinance, but he told FOX 7 that he plans to lower the volume.
says Patel The homeless population has been a huge problem.
“In particular, many of my young clients and clients are afraid to come here, because there are people constantly loitering in the parking lot asking for money,” he said.
He says he had to pay a needle cleaning specialist. Others who work nearby say they have been attacked by homeless people.
“I have to carry this huge old knife with me just to defend myself, it’s sad that you do,” Joe Miranda, who works nearby, told Fox 7.
Patel says he started playing music about 10 days ago and came up with the idea because other shopkeepers around the country had started doing the same.
“Studies have shown that classical music is annoying. Opera is annoying, and I suppose it’s true because it works,” he said.
Since Patel and other neighboring companies He started playing classical music and operathey noticed a difference.
“Now that they’re starting this music, we’ve had less traffic with the homeless here,” Joe Miranda, a local business owner, told Fox 7.
Miranda says he thinks it’s the right solution.
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“It helps, it’s not bothersome to us because it doesn’t bother us, but it probably bothers them because they’re on drugs,” he said.
Others disagree, describing the music as “obnoxious” while going shopping and filling the tank with gas.
Frederick Carter, who lives nearby, said, “I think, just talk to them, tell them not to hang around, or not to live, whatever, I think that’s the best solution.”
He says he started going to others 7-Eleven store nearby which does not contain music playback.
He said, “This music is not good, it is loud, it is repulsive to me, I don’t like it, you can hear it far away, it is very annoying.”
Texas convenience stores aren’t the only ones using Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven, with California’s 7-Elevens following suit.
In Los Angeles, California7-Eleven’s owners began playing classical music to help employees and customers alike feel safe amid the area’s continuing rise in homelessness.
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told Sukhi Sandhu, California 7-Eleven owner Modesto B He started playing opera and classical music last year in an effort to drive beggars and other loafers out of the shop.
“As soon as the music started, the customer left,” Manuel Souza told the local newspaper. “It’s hard to hang out, gossip and joke around.”