LETTERS: DIRT-HAULING TRUCKS DISTURB SLEEP

To the editor:

Last Saturday evening, many folks paid good money to hear the sound of monster trucks at the Show Me Center, leaving them with ringing ears and headaches beyond belief. Not I. I went to bed at a decent hour so I would feel like going to church on Sunday.

I was awakened before midnight by the sound of monster trucks right outside my house. The show must be over, I thought, and the trucks are heading home. When midnight approached and my windows were still shaking, I got out of bed to see how big these monster trucks were. To my surprise, the parade of trucks passing by my house included huge dump trucks loaded with dirt. They were making a left turn off Spring Street and onto Merriwether Street, the block on which I live, to dump off the dirt somewhere at the end of the block, and then returning for another load. They kept coming and going, shifting gears, pounding their brakes and making the sound of their engines rise to a level louder than a "Rush" concert I once attended in St. Louis with my son.

I called the police station. The lady who took my call said she was unaware there were any trucks. I said, "You mean to tell me you can't hear these trucks?" She replied, "It's so noisy in here we can't hear anything outside."

I continued to listen and watch this free monster-truck show until after 1 a.m., thinking it would soon come to an end. It didn't. I called the police station again and explained I was ready to go back to bed and wanted the noise from the trucks to cease. She had an officer speak with me about my problem. He informed me the trucks were hauling dirt from the Show Me Center, dirt that had been used at the show the previous evening. He said the dirt had to be out before morning, and there was nothing he or I could do about it.

I informed him that I was amazed that an officer would be sent after receiving a call about loud noise from an apartment complex or that the police would pull over a car with a boom box making excessive noise. However, these trucks could parade in front of my home between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. making the noise I have previously described.

Living across the street from the police station and one block away from the fire station, I have learned to ignore the sounds of sirens. I have done so without any remorse, as I know they are necessary. I am hard-pressed, however, to see the necessity of hauling dirt at a time when people need a good night's sleep.

RON FARROW

Cape Girardeau