What? WHAT?

 I’m listening to content on my ipod for about 12 hours a day, be it news (MSNBC), sports/talk (Michael Kay), hot talk (Don Geronimo), or podcasts (SomaCow: the greatest internet talk show ever).  If I’m at work, I have my docking station and speakers set up.  But all other times, I’m plugged into headphones.  I’ve been plugged in on the school bus, now the train.  I mow the lawn, take out the trash, paint the house, and even as I type this out, I’m listening to some kind of content.  And they’ll wear out with use, as I know from my Sony Walkman days.

The first to go are the original ones that come with your Walkman/Discman/ipod.  Let’s face it, you’re buying the music player, not the headphones.  Sony or whoever is doing you a favor by essentially giving you the equivalent of a doughnut.  Not Dunkin, but the small spare tire that you can use to limp to the next gas station.  But if you want performance tires, go get them yourself. 

Over the 20 plus years of slowly destroying my hearing (and not even to good music), I’ve found the original Sony ear buds are a workhorse, last a while, store easily, and are a great value overall at about $10.  Now Sony makes them in white to mimic the original ipod ones.  I prefer black, as it hides the dirt better, but Santa Claus brought my current pair, so who am I to complain?  Let’s face it, I don’t need the current Bose version of the circa 1978 Tattletales headphones for the crap I listen to. 

But the one thing with the white headphones is that they are more visible than the black ones.   Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you see two white wires, and you instantly know what they are.  There is no doubt in your mind.  And somebody is walking down the street with them, either they’re listening to something, or they’re a sociopath.  Or both.  But you’re going to assume they’re on.

So can anybody please explain why people come right up to me and strike up a conversation when I have my headphones on, and they don’t even give me a chance to pull them out, or turn my ipod off?  Tourists, strangers on the train, neighbors…it doesn’t matter.  But I get the dirty look when I ask them to repeat what they said?  I could just ignore you instead…

Any questions?

From time to time, I’ll throw out the phrases, “Say what you mean and mean what you say,” and, “Hear me now and understand me later.”  And one of my favorites from stolen from Don Geronimo, “Lear to listen; listen to learn.” 

But people throw out phrases where they think will help society, but they’re taken all wrong.  Lucky for you, I’m here to help.

“Question everything.”  You seriously can’t question everything.  It’s impossible.  You have to go on in life just taking some things for granted.  Gravity, breathing, the Phighting Phils won the World Series last year, etc.  You can’t question facts.  What people should say is, “Question why.”  Why don’t I float off into space?  Can I live without breathing.  How the hell did the Phils and Tampa Bay sneak under the radar and shock the country into making the World Series?

“Question authority.”  These people are just asses.  Authority is in place to prevent chaos and anarchy.  You don’t have to agree with the powers that be, but they’re in place for a reason.  Question their motives, question their policies, but when a Connecticut state trooper pulls you over for doing 75 on I-84, then is not the time to mouth off to him saying you’re following your inalienable right for the pursuit of happiness.   Walking up and ringing the Liberty Bell with a 12 pound sledge is not “freedom of speech”.  It’s a shortcut to the pokey.  And to the top of the list of people Philadelphians hate the most.

What we should really do is question why or question how.  What’s the thinking behind that?  How does that work.  Why was that built that way?  Curiosity is healthy!  Google is your friend.   Knowledge is power.  Enough of it will get you onto Jeopardy.

But here’s a good one I learned on the old Don and Mike Show:  “Don’t answer a question with a question!”  But by that, when somebody asks you a question, give them a direct answer, not their same question hashed back.  “Did you eat the cake?”  “Did I eat the cake?”  NO!  Man up!  Admit it or flat out lie, but DON’T ANSWER A QUESTION WITH A QUESTION!!!

Confused yet?