Ear Buds

Ear buds. Let’s talk about those. Shall we? I don’t wear ear buds in public. EVER! I had read somewhere that muggers, rapists and so on target women with ear buds in because they don’t hear them coming and aren’t prepared once they attack. Therefore they can’t defend themselves. There were many muggings like this in the Cambridge area last year so I decided ear buds aren’t for me while commuting or in the city.

Ok, so enough about why I don’t wear them and let’s talk about people that do wear them. The other day I hopped on the T and saw a guy that delivers our prospectuses. From two feet away I say “Good Morning! How are you?” He says “Good! Good! How are you?” I say “Good! You have a busy day ahead of you?” and he nods and looks up at the ceiling. I realize he has ear buds in. So, I am guessing that his response was “canned” and he probably wasn’t expecting me to have a follow up question. Did he even turn his music off/down? I don’t know! Perhaps next time I will respond “I’m Sh*tty.” And see if I get a different response. Ear bud wearers: Do you just keep listening to music while getting through small talk with acquaintances?

Here’s the other end of the spectrum. Yesterday on the train, I sat with a friend and we were talking about our weekends and some giggly, funny things. A woman in front of us (Actually it was Miss Fancy Spandex Pants) was wearing ear buds but every time we said something funny, she’d turn around and smile at us. Um, weird! Ear bud wearers: Do you just put them in and don’t play anything to avoid conversation and/or to eaves drop?

And then you have the polite guy who, when he sees you coming, he removes his ear buds out of his ears completely so that you know you have his full attention. I am pretty sure that would be the appropriate thing to do. However, I don’t do the ear bud thing so maybe I just don’t get the etiquette behind it.