The hotels change, but the scene stays pretty much the same. Breakfast. Gentle music plays over the speakers, barely audible. Japanese, with their heads down, quietly eating their salads, their soft-boiled eggs in miso. It's quiet. Awfully quiet.

And then, from the back of room - it's hard to ignore. A cacophony of voices, each struggling to be heard over the other. Booming noises in an expanse of silence.

Now transfer this to any of a number of settings. The bus. The metro.

Breaking the silence. It's us. We are Americans - and we are loud.

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