A 7-Eleven owner in Austin, Texas is fighting back against the homeless loitering at his business with CULTURE. And I’m here for it.
Coming up on @fox7austin: a 7-11 is playing classical music to deter homeless people from being in the area. What the store owner and those who live and work nearby have to say at 9 pic.twitter.com/Zn0dBSnouw
— Angela Shen (@AngelaShenFOX7) January 14, 2023
That’s right. Store owner, Jagat Patel, is blasting opera to get homeless people away from his business.
Patel said he got the idea from other stores using similar tactics, and that “studies have shown that the classical music is annoying, opera is annoying. I’m assuming they’re correct because it’s working.”
LOL. I love this guy.
Watch Patel explain the situation below:
And before any bleeding hearts start coming at me for laughing about this, let me remind you that loitering isn’t all Patel is dealing with. Fox 7 reported that Patel has had to “pay a professional to clean up needles” and that “others who work nearby say they’ve been attacked.”
Patel also noted that a lot of his customers are afraid to come to the business “because there are people constantly hanging out in the parking lot soliciting for money.”
The customer always comes first. So, you know what that means:
IT’S OPERA TIME.
This tactic is ingenious, hilarious, non-violent, fancy and diabolical all at the same time. Homeland Security needs to get this guy on payroll for the border control, STAT—I think he’s onto something.
I love opera now. Take it away, Bugs.
2 Comments
Reminds me of the time back in the 70s when cops played Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand songs on big loud speakers to break up student protests, I don’t remember where that was but it worked.
A significant calculation must go into the decision to employ this tactic. The critical fact is that the great majority of people dislike opera. So: Is the deterrent effect on the hang-abouts and druggies worth the loss of patronage from the decent and law-abiding? How to decide, how to decide… 🙂