“I can still feel like if my body is rocking. I am still feeling the effects of the music. I can still feel it in my ears. It leaves you with a heavy feeling for days,” said 96-year-old Agnes of Irving Street, Queenstown, one of the many residents who have been adversely affected by the many boom boxes set up along that street during the Mashramani float parade. She is a retired public servant and was once one of well-known singers of the Woodside Choir.
“I don’t have nothing against Mash, but they are not a part of Mash because when they are there you cannot even hear the music when the floats are passing. You know, the real Mash music,” she said as she looked through the front windows of her home.
Agnes agreed to speak to me after her plight was brought to my attention by a much younger woman, whose mother is also affected by the yearly boom boxes. The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, also joined us for the conversation.
