It is 2026. Watches have been widespread technology for over a hundred years. (Almost) everyone now carries a computer in their pocket. A sonic reminder of the time is obsolete and intrusive.
I have learned to handle the hourly chiming by counting along with the chimes. Knowing how many more chimes are left makes me able to get through it. But there is an inexplicable set of chimes in the early afternoon that do not correspond with the hour, and this set of chimes goes on and on for over fifty chimes! I try not to be around a clock tower when it happens, but recently I was unlucky with the timing of my errand trip and I ended up being right next to a clock tower while this horrible set of chimes was going on. I did not have my ear protection because I was on a bicycle, so I had to get some distance and then put my hands over my ears and stim until the chimes ended, which led to a crowd of people staring at me because I was in a crowded place.
I do not know why this strange set of long chimes happens, but I suspect it has something to do with Christian tradition and I hate it.
I have a memory of staying overnight at a relative’s home as a young child. They had a mechanical clock that would chime every half hour, even in the middle of the night. I could not understand how they slept with this racket. It is genuinely baffling to me that for some people, it’s “just background noise” and they don’t even notice it unless you point it out.
omfg yes. aaaaa more ancient memories resurfacing.