>It seems many Brits agree with you on holiday music torture:
>
>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/14/christmas_music_torture/
>
>It is one thing to hear the music continually while shopping - after all, a customer can leave when the noise is too much or just plain aggravating. However, employees are forced to listen. The same could be said though for Rap, Top40, ... :o) Nothing is worse than shopping in a store where the music is so loud it is painful. I say stop all music in stores period! No more background noise! :o)

Agree 100%. This reminds me of my decade(s) old list of things I can't stand:

1) too much vinegar in my salad
2) too much sugar in my coffee
3) music in a public place

The (1) has some history to it - my dad had an accident with ammonium in his day, so he lost about 60% of sense of smell; he likes his salad sour, so you can imagine the excess vinegar that was put in it so he'd be able to sense it. Nowadays, it's just a sprinkle of apple vinegar, or (even better) lemon squeeze.

(2) Turkish coffee is nearly unpalatable without sugar, but since I couldn't explain how little is "just little bit of sugar" when asked what sort of coffee would I like, I started drinking it sugar-free. And learned to like it. It's milk-no-sugar now, which works pretty much anywhere.

(3) Even if it's the music I like, I wouldn't want it to irritate others. What good is it to have the pleasure of listening to good music when everyone around you is getting pis*ed on/off.