Headphones are so tiny now, they are called earphones or buds. They fit quite snugly into the ear not over the ear as the ones in my day did. They are excellent at blocking all ambient noise. I cannot stand the thought of isolation from the outside world.
Young people wear them all the time, both to listen to tunes and to speak on the phone.
I discovered that young, children toting, parents don’t wear them so much however. I wonder why? This would seem to be the perfect tool for Mums with crying babies. Perhaps I’m behind the times, I see them at pubs and wine-bars with their prams and a good supply of dummies, instead. Dulled from the inside; noise blocked at the source.
My youngest daughter did comment that while she was on the train from Leigh-on-Sea, a long haul to London, listening to her tunes on her iPhone, she noticed everyone looked up and stared behind her. When she released her ears from their cushioned, Bose, headphones (old school) she was immediately aware of a savage argument going on by the doors behind her. She hadn’t heard a thing! The headphones were brilliantly doing their job. She moved further down the carriage.
I have seen information posters at stations, depicting a young man plugged into his music oblivious to what was being announced over the loud speaker. Potential passengers were heading off in different directions away from him and a suitcase was left stranded in the middle of the concourse.
The writing said something to the effect,
“Don’t get left behind when your train departs from a different platform.” And,
“Keep one ear open in case of an emergency!”
While on the train this weekend I saw three people wearing earbuds. They were dead to all around them, heads back, eyes closed, prisoners to the dulcet tones from their personal stereos while the train carried them to their final destination.
The train driver must have been bored as he neared Victoria for he played all his announcement recordings to keep the hearing and alert passengers under his thrall while he slowed down for arrival.
One made me grin.
“Passengers who use their mobile phones and personal stereos are asked to be considerate of their fellow travellers and keep the volume down.”
“A lot of good that announcement did!” I observed to hubs. The people it was addressing were lost in their own worlds. I continued bopping my head along to the tinny sound emitting from the iPod earbuds closest to me.
My daughter uses her earbuds to listen to books. In fact anything stored on an iPod, iPhone or other digital device, needs headphones of some sort for listening. She usually plugs in one ear leaving the other free to tune into life going on around her.
She has been warned that walking with both earphones in is dangerous. Cars can’t be heard, nor sirens, (which isn’t a bad thing here in London) nor folk coming up behind you.
Accidents occur because of this “inattentional blindness” of the earphone wearing segment of the population.
Invariably these minuscule earphones of my daughter’s have a short life span, especially the side most often used. Then when she uses Skype she can’t get the full effect of her boyfriend in stereo.
On Saturday, at her request, we replaced the broken pair with a pair of Skull Candy. These are top of the line and mould cleverly into the ear, so I’m told. Better than their counterparts made by Sony I am informed.
Her complaint this morning, after an hilarious conversation with her beloved last night , was,
“These are all well and good, but whenever I opened my mouth to speak, one of my earphones popped out!”
Good for listening with, not so good for chatting!
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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