Are You Old?

There's a story going around about a company in the UK that decided to generate a high-pitched noise outside their store to discourage teens from loitering there. Apparently, as we age, our ability to hear higher frequencies goes. The adults couldn't hear the sound; teens could. However, the teens twisted things to their own advantage by using the sound as a ringtone so that their parents and teachers couldn't hear their phones ring! Want to test your ears? This is the best site I found that talks about the sound and gives examples of different frequencies. (You have to download the sounds to hear them.) I guess, despite the fact that no one can tell by looking at me, I really am getting up in years. I couldn't hear the upper frequency noises! Now if I could just get the rest of the world around me to figure out that I'm over 18. . . .