European Reacts: I Only Heard These Sounds After Moving to America

[@carolburnett190]

Typically, white noise is used to muffle the sounds of sirens and traffic noises, so it essentially replaces those noises with a substitute for silence. I grew up out in the country, so other than an occasional car or train, I heard only “normal” night noises-insects, owls, an occasional coyote or fox howl. After years of living near a busy interstate, I rarely notice sirens or traffic unless I have my windows open. Unlike city residents though, the silence of the country is beautiful and welcome to me.

[@deborahvretis3195]

Yes, it's the best part of living in the country. My guests always mention the peacefulness. at my house.

[@marcusdire8057]

Same. I grew up in the country so the city noises keep me awake. I usually put on an 8-hour video of a mountain stream or wind in the trees sound to cover all the noise in the city.

[@MrVvulf]

And it's not just a figment of people's imagination. A study conducted in 2021 and published by the NIH was called "The effects of white noise on sleep and duration in individuals living in a high noise environment in New York City" The conclusion paragraph reads: "Conclusion: Our data show that white noise significantly improved sleep based on subjective and objective measurements in subjects complaining of difficulty sleeping due to high levels of environmental noise. This suggests that the application of white noise may be an effective tool in helping to improve sleep in those settings."

[@stevenburkhardt1963]

I sleep with a cricket white noise app on my phone. I missing growing up in the country with open windows at night during the summer. We had no a/c.

[@cncr2962]

The only time I used a white noise app is when I was in close proximity to someone where TV, talking etc., was keeping me awake… which has only ever happened to me a few times in my 60+ years of life

[@Nichols_Santa]

Crickets are fine.... OUTSIDE. Inside, they are a lot louder than you'd think. they will absolutely drive you crazy trying to find out what bit of furniture they are hiding under.

[@tommc3622]

I had one in my closet driving me crazy for two nights. I finally found it, I swear to God, INSIDE the rod holding up my clothes. How it got in there defies physics. I can only assume crickets have developed transporter technology. Be afraid.

[@MammaM1217]

I have one in the bathroom fan in my office lol. It took me a while to notice it because for a while I wasn't the first in or last out. But I was the last out one evening and going back and forth to the bathroom to clean my equipment, I would walk to the door and it would stop... of course I has to find it lol

[@georgemarcouxjr6192]

That one damn mosquito is even worse.

[@deaniej2766]

Inside crickets are so loud partly because they are desperate. They generally get louder as they get closer to death. And that is a fact that I wish I had not learned from firsthand observation.

[@kristend344]

the PNW doesn't have crickets - but I vividly remember my introduction to the things . . I was visiting my great aunt in NW Missouri. It took some time - but I found the noisy little thing and gave it the burial it deserved. . . .

[@mandeepeterson2297]

Crosswalk sounds are used to signal blind pedestrians that it's safe to cross.

[@european-reacts]

That makes sense

[@megdelaney3677]

I was woken up by a couple or more owls around 4am.

[@mattiemathis9549]

Yeah. It’s different in each state or town. Where I live it beeps when it’s safe to walk. The closer it is to changing, the faster it beeps.

[@squiggyflop]

Tornadoes make a freight train noise, not a woosh noise. If you hear a train and you are not near tracks, take shelter immediately.

[@77marioland]

About three years ago the town next to us was leveled, absolute destruction. I stepped outside to get an idea how close it was, it wasn't my first time being near a tornado and the news can be a little useless, the rumble of a freight train if you sat next to it; Larger than I ever remember. There are a lot of trees around here, and to see a path of trees snapped off at about 5-10 feet from the ground 50 yards wide (2-3m x 45m) not to mention cars just tossed about. That was a type 4 out of a 5-point scale, 166-200 mph (267-321 km/h).

[@lorrainea.9023]

where I live a freight train noise means an earthquake is about a half second from happening. Just enough time to get away from the window.

[@hlessiavedon]

​​@@lorrainea.9023 I grew up in Southern California, one day I was up on my dad's shoulders in the back yard and I look out over the other yards as the ground begins to ripple like water. I yelled earthquake and my dad grabbed the fence to keep stable. If I remember correctly, that was a deep magnitude 4.2 that lasted about 6 seconds. Then there was the time I was in my 5th grade classroom and I noticed the cabinet doors shaking, I told my teacher I was pretty sure we were having an earthquake. He noticed the surface of the water in the glass on his desk dancing around and said "I think your right, but they havnt rang the earthquake bell yet, so just keep going." 10 minutes later they made an announcement of a magnitude 2.2 quake.

[@kristend344]

@@lorrainea.9023 There was one earthquake here that sounded like an overweight truck taxing its breaks while rumbling down the hill in front of our house. Just before the shaking started.

[@Monster-ks2yx]

If you dont think the tornado is moving. Run. It's moving towards you.

[@Dixie_N0rmis]

Crosswalks make sound for the blind 🦯🦮

[@jerryransdell3450]

The most common white noise, which is most likely what he's talking about, isn't something most would purposely listen to. It's the quiet hum of your air conditioner running.

[@kayeruss7313]

Never forget the refrigerator, especially with an icemaker when it's activated. I finally turned the icemaker part off to stop having the various parts, ice cubes and water whooshing noises disturb the quiet. Oh, and to stop finding melting ice cubes on the kitchen floor, too.

[@usnavy-retired9800]

Years ago my brother and I took a friend camping in the wilderness of northern Pennsylvania (Hammersley Fork Wilderness, in Southern Potter County for those of you who are curious)...He had never, ever been out of the city. Sometime, in the middle of the night I awoke and had to go stand next to a tree and answer nature's call. While outside the tent all I could hear was dead silence, EXCEPT for a gentle breeze in the trees and the constant sound of the nearby Creek gurgling. While relieving my self, on the tree, our friend, in the opposite tent let out a wail: "Would some one please shut off that fucking creek so I can get to sleep?" Without blinking an eye, I yelled back, in the darkness: "Would it help if I shot my gun a few times and made the sound of a police siren?" He replied: "Yea, would you do that?" Honest to God, that is a true story. Some things one never forgets.

[@romarobbins270]

I usually sleep with a fan running. I like a bit of a breeze and the sound.

[@pddaawwgg]

same even in the winter

[@juliat178]

24/365! If we lose power in the middle of the night and my fan goes off, I wake up immediately.

[@pddaawwgg]

Oh totally agree. it's like an alarm clock to my sleep@@juliat178

[@AmberVivicide]

I'd say the Mourning Dove is the most iconic, nostalgic bird sound in the U.S. If you haven't heard it please look up a video, its a beautiful sound and you hear them everywhere here, especially during sunrise/sunset. 🙂

[@julilla1]

Yes, the coo of Mourning Doves is very distinct.

[@DaisyChain3339.]

My favorite sound to wake up and go to sleep to is a morning bird.

[@paulborden3067]

I have a pair that have nested outside my bedroom window for the last three years.

[@Catherine.Dorian.]

Well, the bald eagle is the most iconic. But yeah, morning doves are like the birds that bond all Americans together cause it’s one we have all seen and we know it

[@jamestaylor3805]

The american Loon and it's call are world famous, and most americans have no idea.

[@Ameslan1]

Yes it is true that many cross walks to cross the street have sounds to alert people who are blind when it is safe to cross the street or wait.

[@GeraldWalls]

1:45 "If I go to sleep I want perfect silence." I have pretty loud tinnitus. I haven't had "perfect silence" in probably 30 or more years. Sometimes it is as loud as cicadas. During the day I HATE fans but at night they really help. I personally consider tinnitus as a type of Chronic Pain.

[@misterwirez7731]

Me too. From extremely loud rock concerts and shooting guns, I have tinitus too.. Dead silence means nothing but a high pitched ringing in my right ear. I have to have a radio or something playing low.

[@TaraWilson1010]

Constant "crickets" - so annoying. I have problems with chronic pain also. nights are difficult. I have to listen to something else or the noises in my head make me crazy. soft music, rainstorms, anything but crickets!!

[@chancemeyers8502]

I cant disagree. Its a constant pain from your ear region. As someone wmone wull full bkown osteoarthritis, I agree it might as well be a chronic pain.

[@ionecuff6323]

I have the same EXACT problem!

[@cden409]

I’m so sorry you have that awful condition. I’ve had an aunt that suffered terribly with that. She passed away in 2009

[@deborahvretis3195]

The Midwest also has cicadas. They are a harbinger of spring. I love the sound after a cold hard winter.

[@sharians-bluesky]

I ❤ cicadas 🦗!

[@Zhiperser]

The thing is, it's not silent at night. I grew up on the outskirts of the Atlanta suburbs and night time without the white noise of various electronics is just unrelenting cicada chirping. It's so loud. The hum of background electric-run appliances and a closed window is way quieter.

[@dreamweaver1603]

I actually like that noise. The sounds of summer. And some of those noises are probably made by frogs.

[@Tuesdays_Gone]

I grew up and still live in Cherokee County (almost in Pickens County), about 55 miles north of Atlanta. I love the katydids, tree frogs and owls. It is soothing to me.

[@MarvRoberts]

I can only sleep with a fan turned on. Otherwise, my tinnitus will drive me insane.

[@pddaawwgg]

same

[@muleb384]

Same, I have a fan on even in the winter

[@tking747]

I have tinnitus as well. Love my CD of distant trains sounds.

[@HarryWHill-GA]

If you have the sound of a dog barking in your ears is that Rintintinnitus?

[@MarvRoberts]

@@HarryWHill-GA 🤣

[@OkiePeg411]

Im in a smaller town in Okkahoma, and every Saturday at 12:00 noon, the city does the tornado siren test. We have crickets but even worse is cicadas. Every friday night and saturdat night people in my town RACE on one of our main streets. They do this for hours after dark. Im probably a mile from that but i can clearly hear the racing cars in my house when im trying to sleep. I turn on a fan in my bedroom to help smooth over that sound, and tge sound of the cicadas and crickets!!!

[@rænd0m_sl33pyh3ad]

I'm in a smaller part of Oklahoma too! I don't really do that since where I live it's in a valley, so tornadoes normally pass over us (however, if a tornado makes it IN to the valley, our whole space will be wiped out!). The sounds of racing cars is always loud, I don't even live near a highway or a road really at all, but I an still hear it!

[@douglascampbell9809]

Moving from a city to the country will absolutely mess with your sleep. Going from quite to noisy or from noise to quiet is very noticable.

[@Jayscollo]

I was born & raised in Brooklyn NY where you can’t escape the sounds of the city, buses, trains, sirens, people, music etc I like to call that noise the heartbeat of NYC but then as an adult I moved to New Hampshire, the silence in the countryside was deafening, I needed to put the TV on to fall asleep.

[@tylerjay_]

I think as most people get older, their appreciation for for things like birds and wildlife, natural beauty, calmness, normalcy grows. Plus once you look at birds and realize they are actually just dinosaurs, then how can you not appreciate them haha

[@gwynn7679]

We have two birds (that I know of) that have a similar sound to the European Wood Pigeon (E.W.P.) that Lawrence mentioned. One is the Morning Dove (pigeon family if I'm not mistaken.) It sounds like the E.W.P. but with "whoo whoo" at the end (So it's like "whoo-wOO whoo whoo whoo." And it sounds "gentler" than Lawrence's version of the E.W.P. The second bird is an owl. There are many different kinds of owls, but some of them sound similar to this.

[@ScribbleScrabbless]

I can't sleep without an audiobook playing 😊 I grew up in Manhattan and when I moved to the suburbs I couldn't sleep without the city noise, so you are completely correct 💯

[@jlgavitt]

I use audio books to drown out all the noises that come with my husband's sleep apnea. KZbin has a lot of free ones.

[@ScribbleScrabbless]

I hope he has a CPAP machine

[@jlgavitt]

His sleep apnea treatment has been a nightmare. Had a bipap (pushes oxygen continuously) but he ended up at the ER with air bubbles in his chest, so he wouldn't wear it. I finally talked him into another consultation next month, hoping for just the cpap this time, or something anyway.

[@ScribbleScrabbless]

I use a CPAP and it changed my life, instantly had more energy and lost weight. Hopefully it works out.

[@KuptisOriginal]

@@ScribbleScrabbless I have a CPAP but couldn't ever get used to it so gave up and it's just sitting in a bag to keep dust off of it. I don't have the money to have another sleep study done to see if something has changed and/or the machine needs changed. So I just deal with being tired all day every day and, yes, it affects everything I do.

[@manxkin]

The sound the Sandhill Cranes make during their migration in spring and fall. The song of chickadees, robins and cardinals. The whistling sound of mourning doves taking flight. The honking of Canada geese. The chattering of Ruby throated hummingbirds. The sound of thunder. Our tornado sirens are tested the first Tuesday of the month at 10:00 am in my area. Yep, we have crickets, cicadas, katydids. All wonderful summer sounds that I dearly miss in mid February in Illinois.

[@livinginparallel]

What he called the wood pigeon we call a dove, they're very common here 🥰 also, yes the city has its noise, but the country in America is LOUD with wildlife and wilderness! I live in a small town, and it's more quiet at night here than in the country for sure! Our crosswalks make the sounds they do to better help vision impaired people, to keep them safe. They used to just beep like he said in the UK, but with the expansion of devices and such in public, EVERYTHING BEEPS, so we had to get creative 😉

[@dreamweaver1603]

Yes, I just posted up thread that we have birds that sound a lot like that called doves. I had no idea they're the SAME birds. 😮

[@mattfaustini]

Yeah, I can't sleep without noise, normally an audiobook I've listened to anyway or a TV show I've watched a million times.

[@joanscoggin7620]

Having lived through a couple of tornadoes, I think the reason the air raid siren is used is because when they get close, they sound like freight trains rumbling by -- I mean they REALLY, REALLY sound like freight trains! So, the warning needs to be seriously artificial sounding to alert you. The power of even a minor tornado is terrifying - one I was in picked up an entire cinderblock building (in chunks, I'm sure) and the space where it had been looked like the building had never been there -- same one picked up trees that were very, very old, including the root system and chucked them into the street like a gardener throws weeds. Of course, some wind up going through houses, too, but it's jarring to see a tree that is 50+ years old lying there like that.

[@tomhalla426]

My landlord has pet peacocks. They are louder than a rooster, and sound like the soundtrack to a jungle ride.

[@theidajawho]

Don't they scream HEEEEELLLPPP all the time?

[@dipsydoodle7988]

Truth. They sound like a woman being murdered.😂

[@sikksotoo]

I used to live right next to a tree nursery that used peacocks as a makeshift alarm system. Very loud birds.

[@tommc3622]

Peacocks are surprisingly mean, aggressive birds. Also loud as all hell. 😂

[@bkbff]

My aunt had some on a hill behind my house. I hated those things! Nosiest animals I've ever heard.

[@akpilon]

Here in NE Ohio, I live across the street from a small pond. From the middle of spring to late summer, the frogs are so loud we actually have to turn the TV volume up to hear it.

[@41dfcpea90]

Have to have a fan going, for the noise and the air movement.

[@jeffhampton2767]

We have that same exact bird sound in America and the United States has thousands of bird species

[@SaltyBagfries]

I like silence when sleeping. We test tornado sirens every first Wednesday of the month at 1PM for one minute, even in the winter. I live in Minnesota. We freeze 1/3 of the year

[@lorawiese5897]

Sadly not this year. 😢

[@bunnyluv2535]

Minnesota gets that many tornadoes? I’m from CT and the ones we get are F1-2 and very very rarely higher

[@allycat0136]

We also test ours once a month where I live in Illinois. I remember I had family visiting from out of state and they heard the sound and were both freaked out by the sound itself and that we weren’t doing anything about it. I was like “Nah it’s Wednesday.” And they didn’t get why I was so relaxed.

[@ProsperingWoman]

In the USA - the wood pigeon relative we have that makes the same sound is the Mourning Dove.

[@Ryarios]

The white noise he’s talking about is the air coming out of the vent. One thing white noise does is mask other noises. When it’s gone, you hear every noise outside (and inside) and even soft noises become glaring. Some places in the US do have spoken voices or other sound for the blind on crosswalk lights.

[@angiriberdy5094]

The tornado siren is actually more common than he even suggested. During storm season Indianapolis runs an automatic check on the alarms to make sure they're working. Every Fri at 11a I'd hear them running the test siren that was just down the street from my college class that got out at the same time. And they're used to indicate severe weather, tornado or not around here. If a storm produces weather that results in a severe storm warning it gets set off too. It's inevitable, you'll hear it multiple times a year.

[@chevychase]

Hello from Kentucky! In 1978 I went to a rock concert which was so insanely loud that it left me with ringing in the ears which I still hear 45 years later. The only way I can go to sleep at night is to have WHITE NOISE. Without white noise the ringing in my ears makes me crazy.

[@KuptisOriginal]

That's called Tinnitus.

[@Anne.Pinkerton]

I live in an rural area ... aka, the sticks!!! LOL We don't have tornado sirens, we just have to watch the weather as close as possible! And I never sleep without a fan going and don't know many women that don't! We love the "white noise" If the electricity goes off in the middle of the night, I'll wake up in a heartbeat when that fan noise stops! A lot of times when I can't sleep, I put the TV on KZbin and listen to a thunderstorm .... they have some that last 10 hours! I feed birds in the winter time when there's little else to eat. Was snowed in for 2 weeks in 2020. Walked out on my porch with a jar of bird food and a little Pine Siskin flew in to my hand. I poured some food into my palm and that little bird just sat on my thumb and ate. I had about 15 different species that winter. LOL I used to catch crickets and use them for fish bait! He didn't mention the Cicadas! EVERY summer day you can hear them chirping in the trees. This year there will be an extra double brood hatching. There is a 13 year brood and a 17 year brood. Last time the 17 year brood hatched, it sounded like flying saucers flying in the trees! It was deafening! Love you reactions! Thanks!

[@scottstewart5784]

I live in the woods. My sleepy time white noise is the stream and the insects, and my fridge now and then. And the crackle of burning wood when cold.

[@pddaawwgg]

I sleep with a fan on every night even in the winter. I need white noise or I can't sleep.

[@sandyback4665]

I use white noise every day summer and winter (fan) .

[@lindadeters8685]

I grew up in Chicagoland. A half mile to the northeast was the commuter train line, a half mile to the east was a Level One Trauma hospital, so sirens were frequent, a mile to the south was an Expressway, a finally 4 miles to the SW, was OHare Field. When I moved to AZ, my home was in the middle of nowhere. I had such a hard time getting used to that silence.

[@YasmineGalenornOfficial]

I can't sleep without white noise. I have a sound machine, I keep very soft music playing too, and my air purifier makes noise. It helps me muffle my thoughts, for one thing. The crosswalk signs make sounds to alert seeing-impaired pedestrians. It helps prevent accidents and provides more autonomy.

[@SkewtLilbttm]

Bear in mind that Lawrence is often being sarcastic and/or hyperbolic for the sake of being comedic. Definitely don't take too much of these things literally.

[@xirasronin]

A few years ago I was in the hospital for Three weeks And had the worst time trying to sleep. A dear friend purchased me a white noise machine, it had little switches on the front so you could also choose the sound of Different fans. Best thing ever! Different doctors and nurses would step into the room just to decompress a little and listen to the noise. Hear at my house there is A couple of barn owls That conspired to keep me awake . There is a raptor sanctuary Not far from my house And different owls (At night) And Hawks (During daylight) Do their own “ Battle of the bands” With Mockingbirds And later in this summer dove.

[@ghostface490]

I can't go to sleep without the sounds of rain and thunderstorms. There is just something so soothing about the rumbling of the thunder and the pitter-patter of the rain. It's probably because I live in Indiana. In Indiana, as well as most of the Midwest in America are notorious for having weather that changes constantly and having really really strong storms of any kind; especially thunderstorms. The sounds of weather and nature in general to me is just a part of my everyday life and not having those sounds while I go to sleep would drive me insane.

[@spyrus_4359]

The first time (and only time) I heard tornado sirens, I was working in Denver, CO. I asked my coworker (a local) if we were getting bombed, and he explained what it was

[@MannyLoxx2010]

Mourning Doves are Pigeons out here in California, Andres! They are stupid birds, too!

[@yugioht42]

The sound on crossings is actually for the blind as it’s the signal for them to cross the crossing also have secondary sound as the sorta click or rotate sounds during the crossing to help guide the blind. It’s part of the disability adaptation we’ve been doing across the states for the longest time. We don’t have braille signs yet but it’s getting there. Some signs are raised letters though.

[@CG68810]

He forgot cicadas. You hear those towards the end of the Summer.

[@TrulyUnfortunate]

Most Americans live in the suburbs. And in the South you have to have the A/C running or you'll wake up in a puddle of sweat.

[@jenced80]

Yes. White noise is very important for some of us to sleep for two reasons. Number one, if we have a hard time silencing the thoughts in our mind, white noise does a great job of basically inducing a sort of meditative brain waves state for our minds to relax and we stop thinking and thinking and stressing. And number two, some of us have a really hard time falling asleep because when things are too quiet, you can hear every tiny little noise, which is actually really annoying and loud to people like me. So the White Noise just drowns it out. It creates a kind of Silence of its own. Hope that makes sense.

[@radioflyer68911]

White sound is often used to mask the hissing sound for tinnitus sufferers. The sound of running water like a constant waterfall is most effective.

[@IcanhearClemFandango]

Not just any noise. A gentle hum like a fan is perfect.

[@ccormx]

Can’t sleep without it, the AC/Heater, ceiling fan/box fan, bathroom vent, kitchen vent, I even use a white noise app on my phone sometimes. It works, for an insomniac

[@user-ym1zg8bt9x]

When I moved from Connecticut to South Carolina, it took me 3 years to get used to not hearing the wind. Rarely do we have wind in this area but in Connecticut there was rarely no wind (it was a constant noise).

[@Nichols_Santa]

You must have lived near the shore. I am a few miles inland and it's not such an issue here my part of Connecticut.

[@luxleather2616]

I can relate cus when I was a kid my family moved from the busiest part of town to the other side that had nothing around....the first night it was so quiet which made the crickets sound so loud it was hard to sleep cus we were so used to constant loud traffic noise....yes I have to have soft background noise to sleep properly

[@juliejacobsen7244]

A lot of the smaller communities where I have lived in the Midwest schedule a tornado siren test on a regular basis to make sure it’s in good working order and that people know what the sound is. One town I lived it went off every Tuesday at 10 am. One town was every Wednesday at noon. The area I grew up it went off every weekday at noon. I lived on a farm a few miles outside of town and we could hear it clearly at noon. All the farmers in the area appreciated how loud it was because they would be able to hear it when they were outside working even if they farmed several miles away from town.

[@radioflyer68911]

The sound of the surf, the sound of the rain on the roof can be soothing to some. So can the sound of a box fan if you've been using one all summer. Suddenly not hearing it on can be problematic.

[@katw3070]

I live in a very quiet neighborhood, so at night only hear a train whistle off in the distance occasionally, sometimes a whippoorwill, crickets in summer and wind chimes in a soft breeze. I love those sounds. At the beach, the sound of the ocean at night is both humbling and soothing. And, of course, birds in the morning. Soul music.

[@sugarbonez777]

omg--i have to sleep with a fan on or I wont sleep at all. Any type of little noise wakes me up so the sound of the fan drowns out everything!--my husband sleeps with an audiobook playing on his headset.

[@jeffhampton2767]

I live in the mountains in a 13 room farmhouse with Wildlife everywhere and I mostly just hear the sounds of animals mostly Birds and sometimes the sound of wind or a thunderstorm. We have no City Sounds here😂

[@DaisyChain3339.]

I grew up in a very quiet small lake filled suburb, mostly nature around, no large stores nearby. I can only sleep with a fan or white noise machine, even in the country.

[@gkiferonhs]

I use white noise to hide the episodic, sudden noises that happen (sirens, dogs bark, etc.) behind an unchanging sound.

[@suepall5425]

As another commentor mentioned, the mourning dove makes a beautiful sound and I always count myself lucky when a few of them decide to reside near my home. We have great horned owls in our yard and we hear them nearly every night around one to two a.m. They are magnificent animals and I've only ever seen them a few times. You have to be lucky to see them. The one overwhelming sound you hear in America during the summer months are cicadas. This year is supposed to be a rare year when those that only appear every 30 years will come out of the ground and make the nights deafening with their noise. Our backyard is full of the sounds of crickets, cicadas and tree frogs. This summer will be a loud one!

[@taramahoney2412]

Through all twelve months a year. I can only sleep with a fan on all night. I cannot sleep in silence. Even if its cold I just turn the fan in a direction that is not on me.

[@brianharrington2014]

I live in Michigan and I have a fan on full blast at night even in the winter. I literally can't even get tired without the noise. But it can't be just any noise. It has to be white noise from a fan.

[@user-tm7tw9tu7b]

I have to at least start my sleep with noise. That bird sounds like morning doves here. I feed wild birds when I feed my hens along with wild ducks. They all surround my home and sing at sunrise. Once fed they all quiet down. There are also many roosters in my country neighbor hood. At first it made me crazy, but now I don't notice them.

[@alittleaccurate3080]

I’m American in the south and I love hearing my fan have a constant “clink” that is really soft but it makes it sound like home.

[@sylvanaire]

I used to prefer a quiet house when falling asleep, but about 20 years ago something terrible happened in my life & now I can’t unless I have something playing like an audiobook or podcast to keep my mind engaged away from the terrible thing. Even a few minutes of silence & my mind focuses back on the event. So, yes, I need some kind of noise to doze off. But aside from that, I don’t think there is an American house that is perfectly quiet. If it’s not the air conditioner, it’s the furnace. Or the fridge. Or nowadays, the air purifier. And I live in a quiet neighborhood, so I’m not talking about traffic noise at all. You get used to it & tune it out. That’s just how our brains work!

[@heychadwick]

I sleep like a rock, but my wife is a light sleeper. She uses “white noise” to drown out sounds in the house sometimes. Cat fights or adult kids / guests moving around the house. That type of thing. The sound of static, a waterfall, or something like that can hide sudden noises. I don’t live in the middle plains of the country. We don’t have tornado sirens. We have had 2 tornados in the past 17 years where we had to bunker down. No sirens. We do live vaguely close to a nuclear power plant and they do test the sirens on occasion. I can’t hear them at my house, but a few miles away and I can.

[@lorriredmon8212]

In the US we have a practice run of the tornado siren weekly. For me here in Oklahoma it's every Saturday at noon. We expect it and learn to know what it sounds like. These alarms started as bomb warnings in the early 40's. And Civil Defense practiced sounding them every week then too. It was because of the threat/fear that mainland US could be attacked. The beep, beep you have on crosswalks sounds just like my smoke alarm near our stove and around the house. LOL

[@emilyb5307]

There's always noise where I am. I can hear the occasional car on the street, crickets, frogs...the AC or fans or dehumidifiers...

[@Melissa-wx4lu]

Let's just say...that it's the dead middle of winter, it's well below freezing outside and I have the fan on because I need the white noise to sleep. Otherwise I can hear my heartbeat and ringing in my ears and I will have the worst sleep of my life. The upside is that I have my fan switched to spin the other direction so that it pushes down the warm air.

[@jackg5734]

when I was 6 I was standing next to a race car when some on cranked it up and revved the engine. I have had a ringing in my left ear ever since so I have trouble falling asleep if it's too quiet.

[@joanna400]

I like falling asleep to an audiobook stories or podcasts or history or even music because my mind is just always going full stream. I like having something to particularly focus on and think about as I go to sleep to cut out other intrusive thoughts.

[@flutetobassmusician]

Tornado drills go off once a week at 11 exactly and lasts a few minutes to test the system where I live. Used to live close to one of the sirens. It was horrible. Found reasons to be out of the house at that time durring summer breaks.

[@steventambon2588]

I 100% am someone who needs white noise to sleep. I typically have the AC, heat, or my ceiling fan running as well as a movie or show on the TV. I also live in a major city so there are plenty of sirens and traffic sounds outside of my house.... luckily, nature provides white noise for us as well, so I am still able to camp comfortably :)

[@ideasmatter4737]

I love silence for sleep, but working the graveyard shift exposes me to all the neighborhood noises, so I opt for white noise instead.

[@susanyoung1600]

I live in Ohio, and in my area, if you're blind you can speak to the city and they'll install the talking crosswalks so you don't kill yourself crossing the road. They're not everywhere. At least not here.

[@aniE1869]

Where I grew up, you would hear loons at night all summer. The first several summers after moving it seemed strange to me not to hear them.

[@LillibitOfHere]

I still miss the sound of snow plows going by every few hours from when I lived in a snow belt in north west Michigan. We used to get about 12 ft of snow per winter.

[@HarryWHill-GA]

You should try visiting Australia and having about 20 Kookaburras light off outside your window about dawn and then keep it up for 30 minutes. Egads. Look up the sound. It's like a laughing bird at the volume of a jet engine.

[@rudewalrus5636]

Tornado sirens aren't everywhere in the US, just tornado-prone areas. I never hear them in Washington DC, but we had them in SE Michigan, where I grew up. In the summer time they would test them on the first Saturday of every month. Otherwise, you would only hear them if there was a tornado warning. The weather service would have two levels, Watches and Warnings. They would be announced for specific areas (e.g. This, That, and the Other County...). A Watch meant that atmospheric conditions were present for tornados. No action was necessary, but you should be prepared. A Warning (when the sirens would sound) meant: a tornado _has_ _been_ _spotted_ ; _Take_ _Cover_ . We also did tornado drills in school (along with fire drills).

[@cindyr9790]

I'm a light sleeper and every little noise wakes me up so I sleep with a fan running at night to drowned out the other noise. I know that probably doesn't make sense to some, but the fan makes a white noise sound.

[@Dixie_N0rmis]

Wood pigeon makes a similar sound to some doves. We do hear its call where i live. I actually live on a road called songbird. Certain times of the year we have tons of different types traveling through

[@roxannduran1561]

My favorite sound at night is the 1:00am train that passes by maybe a mile away, but I can hear that whistle in the night, it’s so peaceful, just relaxes me.

[@Albemarle7]

The sounds of rain on a tin roof or surf on the beach are so relaxing.

[@michaeltipton5500]

I remember walking through the forest in Germany hearing a CooCoo bird. I thought that was so cool.

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

Silence wakes me up... it is a part of being human... when things get silent, it tells us danger is near.... same when the forest goes silent

[@pauladuncanadams1750]

Absolutely.

[@Taliesyn42]

I moved from Michigan to Virginia for a couple years. At night, I kept a fan going to cool me down. At first, yes, it kept me up. Then I got used to it. Then one day it broke, and I discovered I actually had trouble getting to sleep without the sound of the fan going - now my bedroom was TOO quiet. So yes, you can end up needing that noise to get to sleep.

[@rickdale4921]

We sleep with a box fan running all night 😅

[@OkiePeg411]

We have pigeons too. And mourning doves.

[@TerminalFailSafe]

I have to have a ceiling fan on. The ceiling fan of course causes “white noise”. That ceiling fan has not been off in years.. seriously.. years. During the summer time, the ceiling fan and the air conditioner.

[@mkshffr4936]

In Northern Minnesota you might hear the sound of a loon which is similar.

[@halicarnassus8235]

1:45 What is truly crazy Andre',, Our Portuguese Friend is you wearing that Magnificent winter Coat inside, and filming yourself. To all a Whom may not know, Portugal can get Lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the Winter Months.. Bless Their Hearts💕

[@pauladuncanadams1750]

And I hear that the older houses are colder inside than outside. And it's kinda damp inside because the local tile that they use soaks up the moisture so there's humidity. It's best to get a couple of dehumidifiers, especially in a house built before 2000.

[@european-reacts]

Cold day 😂

[@justgreg8270]

i physically cant sleep with out some kind of white noise, I turn on a fan every night before i tuck into bed simply for the noise in the winter months

[@JIMBEARRI]

Here are people who find the sound of rain on the roof or the waves on the shore to be relaxing. He is correct, Street crossing signals do vary by city. Some tick like clocks while an LED display counts down the seconds before the light changes. I don't turn on white noise, but I do leave music playing at a very low volume.

[@caroleschaefer7218]

I don’t recall ever hearing a cross walk make noise.

[@dazyh4637]

Crosswalk sounds are for blind or visually impaired people. I live in a rural area with the interstate and parkway close by. The sounds we hear regularly are the vehicles, coyotes, all kinds of birds, such as geese, chickens, woodpeckers, owls, song birds (cardinals, Bluejays, mocking birds, and so on), foxes, crickets, just recently cicadas, deer, horses, Amish buggies, cows, farm equipment, gun shots, and hunting dogs.

[@catlady443]

I sleep with the TV on. I cannot handle the quiet

[@cden409]

We have always used white noise. Fan or window air conditioner. Working 3rd shift or graveyard shift 11pm-7am the day noise has to be blocked or you can’t sleep during the day.

[@RobWenzel84]

The tornado siren goes off when the storm has a very high chance of producing a tornado, but it doesn't mean there is a tornado it's just a warning that a tornado could form at any time, and give people a chance to get to somewhere safe

[@MJBJ-cb2jd]

Also, we used to have an alert siren practice every week to make sure it was working, and we knew what it was.

[@RobWenzel84]

@@MJBJ-cb2jd they use ours for times as well everyday they go off at 12 noon and again at 10 pm

[@dangauldin6497]

You answered your own question about the white noise. the ambience in the background like cars, airplanes, insects making noise... then suddenly you remoe it, your brain recognizes that its gone and that becomes unsettling.

[@susanwgallagher-wc6jn]

Having recently moved from Southern California, I really miss mocking birds. They just make you smile every time you hear a perfect car alarm, a seagull, and years ago the sound of a dialup connection coming from a tree.🎉

[@Big_Tex]

Oh definitely need the noise. I’ve been in the habit of having a fan blowing in my bedroom since I was a kid. Even better if the AC is also blowing. And for the past 10 years I’ve had tinnitus, so I also run a white noise app on my phone (using Bluetooth speaker). If I’m travailing and don’t have my usual background noise it’s eerie and oppressing and my ringing ears are annoying. But I CAN’T tolerate sleeping to structured sound like music or a ticking clock. That prevents me from sleeping.