Everybody's wired up

Headphones are great, aren’t they? I can take my entire 78rpm collection out with me when I’m walking to university, when I’m on long train journeys or just to generally pass the time. I have no idea how I used to cope before I got my iPod, although I can distinctly remember trying to keep my portable CD player level so it didn’t skip and I could listen to tracks in their entirety. Those were the days.

In any case now, it’s increasingly common to see so many people wired up to their iPods, MP3 players or mobile phones. Fair enough, the sounds of the street can be pretty dull in comparison to what treasures of music you carry around in your pocket. But I believe the amount of people using headphones has changed the way we communicate to people, and it’s quite unfortunate. Below are some scenarios which I have observed or have happened to me, all because people were wearing headphones.

Situation A: Two people are walking down the street, both wearing headphones. When they pass by each other they will loudly shout “HELLO HOW ARE YOU” with the hope that neither side replies with anything longer than “IM GREAT THANKS”. Of course, anything longer than that would require both sides to remove their headphones and it would lead to an awkward conversation where both sides missed half of what each other said

Situation B: When passing people in the street you go to take your headphones out, or hover your hands near your ears in case you need to take them out. The other person doesn’t even see you. You look silly.

Situation C: People have to fumble in their pockets for their iPods to pause their music whilst they chat to someone.

Situation D: Someone says something to you, and you have to ask “WHAT” about 5 times.

Situation E: Someone shouts you and you can’t hear them. They feel stupid.

Note that all of the above seem to revolve around time when we pass people in the streets. What are we losing out on? Social interaction! That spontaneous moment when you see someone and strike up a great conversation with them. That time you sit next to someone on the bus and chat to the woman next to you because she has the same breed of dog as you.

We’re all so wired up that we are missing out on these wonderful parts of life. Sat with headphones in, tunnel vision on – it sends a pretty strong signal that you’re not to be approached, and it’s very sad. We’re all suffering and I dread to think about what it’s doing to the next generation and their social skills.

Now I don’t advocate a complete removal of them, far from it. But next time you’re out in the street, sat on a train or a bus then try turning the volume down and just speaking to people. It’s amazing what can come from it!