Try this one dumb trick to improve your health and make new friends. It cures cancer and burns that pesky belly fat. It’s an ancient technique that the stars used to get ripped for 300. It’s a trick so simple, you wouldn’t believe you’ve never tried it! It will change your life forever.
Are you ready for it? Here you go! Take off your fucking headphones.
It may come as a surprise to a lot of you out there, but you are not currently starring in some Truman Show-esque film about your life. You do not need a sound track.
When you’re out for a trail run, would you rather hear that Best of Boyz II Men album you’ve been listening to recently? Or the mountain biker coming around the corner? Or how about the 250lb lion that’s been stalking you for the last 30 minutes? And what about that nice lady who said “hi” to you but you didn’t hear her and didn’t say “hi” back and it really hurt her feelings? Have you thought about her feelings? Let’s be real – that velvety a capella can wait.
And when you’re riding your bike through rush hour traffic you can probably just hum those John Williams tracks to yourself, you know? As a mostly invisible and wholly vulnerable object darting around like a high stakes game of frogger, should you really be depriving yourself of your second most useful sense? Maybe you don’t care if you get splatted, but it’s rush hour already and that will definitely snarl traffic and people have, like, places to be.
I guess the big thing is that whether we like it or not, we all live here. We’re a society. And part of that means dealing with each other every once in a while. A chaotic community like ours can be overwhelming, for sure, and we all need a little time to ourselves. I understand the need for solitude as well as anyone, but the solution is not to strap on a sensory deprivation helmet and wander into traffic.
Headphones are great, and have a lot of applications. They’re my number one go-to for avoiding conversations on planes and fully appreciating The Dark Side of the Moon. But let’s be reasonable, people, and pay a little bit of attention.
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