Things I will NOT miss about Brazil

I am sick and tired of men with microphones.

In Brazil, this is a common way to promote specials - when you go to the enormous, multi-block market in downtown Rio, there are guys with microphones, promoting their specials on t-shirts, cloth, baskets, food, etc. I absolutely hate going to the supermarket, because not only is it absurdly crowded and poorly arranged spacially, but they always have a guy talking about a lightning sale (sale good for 3-5 minutes) on something like milk, cookies, etc., and he never shuts up and he always uses the exact same voice inflections.

However, all of this is nothing in the face of the newest irritant - the drugstore in front of my apartment has decided to start doing this type of advertising to boost sales...in front of the store. There is now a guy who stands on the sidewalk with a microphone and amplifier, trying to draw passerbys, and I cannot escape his voice in my apartment. At least with downtown or the grocery store, I could try to brace myself. And I could rest easy knowing that, once I left, I didn't have to hear that crap. Not anymore. THe asshole starts at 8 or 9 in the morning every day INCLUDING WEEKENDS!!!! I am now subject off-and-on to an 8-to-9-hour assault on my concentration and domestic quietness (as quiet as it gets when cariocas are leaning on their horns, which is another gripe altogether) as he promotes shampoo costing 20 cents less this week. I quite literally have somebody standing on the other side of the street of my apartment, reading the promotional ads that come in Sunday papers in the states, every day of the week.

Damn the invention of the microphone......