I had a comically bad day yesterday, like dropping things, almost lost my keys down the drain on the sidewalk, spilled soup at the store near a makeup section, almost tore my pants, got back from the store only to find out I was out of TP, etc.

It was more funny than anything else, like so much random trivial bad luck in one day is like something out of some 90s Tom Hanks comedy.

But there was one thing that actually annoyed me - on my way back from the store on my grocery trip, my phone suddenly went from a healthy 7% to 0% and died. I was stuck with no music for the remainder of the walk back.

Soooo I was forced to listen to the sound of well - nothing at all basically.

Just birds chirping, wind blowing, leaves rustling, all as I walked the same path I walk all the time and see the same things I’ve seen hundreds of times, just waiting to get home.

Don’t get me wrong I love where I live and everything, it’s a really cool city with good pedestrian infrastructure, I almost never even get close to a car and it’s not some smelly euro village either, but seeing the same things I’ve already seen and having no stimuli at all, it wasn’t that big a deal but it was unpleasant.

That got me thinking - I sometimes see folks not wearing earphones outside, and I’ve heard on more than one occasion from some acquaintances that they don’t listen to music outside, and I wonder - why’s that?

Why would you choose to do that?

And, what do y’all like, do, exactly? How do you deal with the monotony of your grocery trips or things like that when you don’t even have music on? Do you just never get bored of walking the same roads/neighborhoods w/e day after day?

  • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
    22·
    2 小时前

    When I was a youth, walking with headphones or earbuds meant you had a tapedeck or CD player (and later iPod or smartphone) that could be stolen, making you a more attractive target, as well as one that was easy to sneak up on.

    I started off with a cheapo MP3 player, then a PSP as a kid, now it’s just my phone.

    don’t use earphones outside because it’s unsafe: Awareness of surroundings is paramount.

    No offense, I get it bad things happen but where tf y’all live that this is something you even need to worry about? I’m not getting mugged in broad daylight in a city centre wtf.

    What do I do instead? Listen to the birds sing. Listen to snow or leaves crunch underfoot. Sing! Read a book. Skip! Admire the sun through the trees. Look for cool bugs. Have a conversation with a friend. Rehearse a future conversation in my head. Solve math problems. Philosophize.

    Yeah I’m not talking about a hike, I’m talking about walking to the grocery store. If I saw someone skipping and singing randomly on the pavement I’d probably ask them if they were alright and maybe call the services.

    I obviously can’t teleport my friends or S.O. to me every time I go to the store.

    The rest of those I do just fine, while also listening to music. Idk how many times you can listen to “leaves crunch underfoot” before it gets a little stale.

    • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
      3·
      30 分钟前

      I’m not getting mugged in broad daylight in a city centre wtf.

      My life may involve a lot less broad daylight than yours, but I’m not just talking about muggings, which are rare in Chicago. Bad drivers are a much more prevalent concern.

      If I saw someone skipping and singing randomly on the pavement I’d probably ask them if they were alright and maybe call the services.

      That’s just rude.