There are a few sounds that can grab me by my brain stem.

This first one, being common, won’t surprise you: the sound of a can opener. It has been over 7 years since a can delivered gravy and processed meat to me but just the jangle of the opener, the seal being broken with the steel blade causes a rush of stmulus to my hindbrain. Out of a dead sleep, out of a delicious dream, it can snap me out of mid-snarl or from deepest contemplation. All of my limbs get a burst of tingling alertness at that sound.

To a lesser degree of reaction, there is a certain stiff plastic that has often lead to cheese, or its more common name, /see – aych eyey ess ee/. That crackly sound bobs my head out of nodding to rapt attention. That whisper of synthetic material causes something of a buzz that must be more pavlovian than evolutionary.

Thirdly, and far less commonly occuring, is the provacative auditory signal of a light rattle of pills in plastic. This has been known to be a precurser to any number of ocean species: white fish, haddock, salmon or tuna. Like can openers, the effect seems to register at spinal sensor level. My limbs are in motion before I even know why but my collegues fevrent cries make everyone apprised of why shortly. Her problem is patience. She sounds the alarm and gives us entirely too quickly. A few rounds around the ankles and she declares the fish a no show and goes. I however, 🙂

Miao for now…