Disgust

According to Lisa Feldman Barrett, there are six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise. My most recent emotion was disgust. The insensitivity of some people and their blatant disrespect toward their neighbors is astonishing.

Have you ever had a bad neighbor? Maybe their family life is a public scandal. They constantly throw loud parties until the early hours of the morning. Or their pet roams freely through the streets or barks relentlessly every night? I’ve encountered individuals who use the classic line to justify these behaviors: “This is my house. I’ll do whatever I want.” And when you hear that reasoning, it’s clear there’s no awareness or logic. They can’t understand that their rights end where others’ start. Their home ends where their neighbor’s begins. And that counts also the space in my house noise polluted.

I ask: how many of these people ever consider that in the house next door there are small children? There are sick individuals or elderly people who can’t sleep because of the noise. They simply don’t care—because they believe they have the “right to be joyful.”

In many cases, one has to turn to the authorities to deal with these excesses. Nevertheless, authorities are meant for more serious matters. That respect should come from society itself, people’s culture and thoughtfulness —not from fear of a fine.

My most recent emotion was disgust, and I share it openly in this post.