So after a few days at the beach and the pool, question for your native NJ types: Why does everybody here seem to live as though they forgot to turn their hearing aids on? Conversations at shouting volumes, listening to talk radio at a high enough volume that you can clearly understand it 20 yards away (which is saying something, when it's Mike Francesca), music in casual situations loud enough that you have to shout to be heard by the person next to you, etc. I mean, I realize that being loud is part of the Jersey stereotype, but what gives?