During my junior and senior years of college, iPods started popping up all over the place. It seems like everyone had some form of MP3 player in their pocket, and music blaring through their headphones to go along with it.
One day, I was walking down the street and passed another student. I could tell he had his earbuds in but I didn’t think much about it. As we approached each other, I looked over to him and said hello. His expression showed that he had no idea I was there or even said a word to him. We had been walking towards each other for about 100 feet and no one else was around. He had to know I was there. However, his head never turned and his mouth never opened. He was so lost in his iWorld he failed to recognize a simple hello.
Later on that year, I sat in the lobby of the girls’ dormitory waiting to go down to eat dinner. There was only 1 other guy in the lobby at the time. He had his earphones in and was staring into space. Since we were only about 3 feet apart and the only 2 people in the room, I decided to strike up a conversation. I asked him a question and got no response. I asked again, and still nothing. Finally, I said something else to him. Instead of responding or even looking at me, he just put his head down, completely ignoring eye contact or conversation. I know he had to hear me, but he used this iPod to isolate himself from my conversation.
We’ve all been around people who have stepped out of reality to soak in their music. Whether for enjoyment, relaxation, or just to ignore us, they completely cut off communication with those around them.
We’ve probably also been around people who blast their music so loud that we can hear every note, beat, and lyric through their headphones even though we’re 10 feet away.
The people who sing along with their iPods are everywhere. We can’t hear the music, but they assume we can. So they sing along, replacing all the words they don’t know with “Yeah, mmmmm, yeah yeah, uhhh, ohhh, yeah yeah something.”
And of course there’s those who plug their iPods into mini-speakers and carry them around in public like they’re in Run DMC.
Does iPod etiquette exist? If so, what are some rules that people should follow when plugging their headphones in and drowning themselves in music?