Animation: mouth tape / songbird (if you can bring a real bird…it’s best)

[Come into the aisle wearing a tape across your mouth. Pull it off before speaking.]

Silence. Sometimes after a day of screaming co-workers, or busy shopping, or upset children, or loud music, you name it, all we crave is….silence.

In fact, how many times have you wished your partner, or child, or friend….would just be….silent.

There’s something called “noise fatigue.” In fact, studies say that emotional exhaustion can also make you more sensitive to sound! The more exhausted you are, the less tolerant of sound, the more you crave…silence.

But too much silence can also be oppressive. Because silence is also a very solitary thing. We are by nature communicative, social creatures. We need to communicate. How many …