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?
I’ve yet to find a device that can survive going 30 meters plus under water. So I’m forced to listen to the world around me.
But seriously there are a lot of times where you need to hear the world around you. Sometimes I go for a walk around town with my earbuds and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I work on a project with music playing and other times it’s not feasible.
I basically just jack it constantly. Whenever, wherever.
Chad, what can I say.
It feels like satire to actually say you cannot imagine life without constantly listening to music. Is it satire?
Right? Like, I don’t know maybe try experiencing your surroundings.
Obviously I do, I don’t get why you spun what I said into hyperbole. But what do you do after you’ve experienced the surroundings, and now have to experience them again, and again, and again?
Honestly y’all must be kinda boring people if you’re happy just staring off into nothingness doing nothing at all, just left foot right foot like some kinda robot to and fro on the daily.
I like day dreaming, talking to people I bump into while I’m about, hearing the buzz of people in a pub garden, the music playing in people’s cars as they drive past. I like these things, it makes me feel connected to the place I live. It’s also good to just let your mind wander without constant stimulation.
No? Lolwut. I don’t constantly listen to music. I mostly listen to it when outside when I’m on a grocery store walk, because there isn’t really anything else to do except walk to the store and walk back
Really focusing on the wrong thing here. I hope this is satire
So are you gonna explain your point or just keep feigning shock at what is fairly normal and common IRL?
I’m starting to think you must not go outside very much, because when I look around, people who don’t have earphones in are very much the exception, they stand out, hence the question, and on a personal level I honestly don’t even know any people IRL who just march on alone without music or like some podcast or audiobook or something.
My girlfriend does this, all my friends do this, the only people who do not do this are usually some older people with kids when they’re out with their kids, but then again they’re not really on their own, and obviously I wouldn’t listen to music on a walk if I was with somebody for that walk like on the weekends etc.
This reads like satire but I assume you’re being serious.
I’m not really doing anything instead. I’m listening in both cases - only the what I’m listening to changes. Listening to music - or podcasts in my case - is a bit of an distraction. I don’t want to be distracted all the time. I’m more present when I’m listening to the world instead, and it gives more space for my thoughts. I never even have the radio on in my car because to me, driving is almost a meditative experience and I like to just sit there in relative silence and focus on the driving itself. I’m stimulated one way or another for the vast majority of the day anyway. I think it’s good to have these intentional moments built into your daily routine where you let yourself be bored. It’s good for you.
That’s interesting, for me music helps me focus, otherwise I just end up endlessly distracted and completely away from the world.
Obviously I understand the point about boredom and am aware of it, only the most brainrotten people think boredom isnt good for you, but I am still bored when walking, out of all the senses, only my ears are occupied, almost everything else is kind of an autopilot, like in those studies where people who drive down the same roads for decades end up being dangerous because their brain is no longer actively processing their surroundings.
For me it’s more like music is a way to direct my thoughts or to set a tone for them. Maybe I’d like to think about something nostalgic, or something new, and music sets the tone and tunes out distractions in the world so I can stay cognitively engaged.
I don’t use earphones outside because it’s unsafe: Awareness of surroundings is paramount. You say you rarely see a car but not everyone is so lucky. I’m guessing you’re younger, too: 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.
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.
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.
/boggle
I don’t require constant stimulation.
I do, but the leaves rustling and birds chirping provides it for me. OP describing that as a bad thing is what boggles me.
I like it too, but obviously it gets a bit boring in the same area after the 5th through to the 365th time
Yeah no kidding!
Did you play Dark Age of Camelot?
Also, I require constant stimulation.
I did.
Then you must be old, as am I. Though my obsession was Everquest.
EQ and later WoW. I didn’t have enough time to de EQ right.
I’ll get back to this, but I first need to complete my post called “Have you ever spoken to someone in person?”
Huh? Are you saying you haven’t? Or that I haven’t? Because I don’t get what relation this would have to listening to music on a daily walk to and from the grocery store.
Do you mean to imply that instead of listening to music, you’re constantly magically spawning in a conversation companion that accompanies you to and from wherever you need to go and constantly talk to them along the way?
Did you write this post deliberately to trigger us? Some examples; The phone died when it should have 7% left, spilling soup at a store, smelly euro village and of course the main question.
Huh? No I didn’t write this to trigger anyone. The walk is only like 10 mins each way, 7% is usually more than enough to last another 10 minutes. The sudden drop to 0% is unexpected and unusual.
I don’t get how spilling the soup at store is meant to be ironic either.
If you drop one of these, they tend to crack open and spill slightly:
Obviously I told a staff member about it and she took it and told me not to worry.
The smelly euro village is a bit of sass on my part, just a more fun way of saying “walkable and modern dense city”.
This is 100% ironic bait.
But to answer the question, you shouldn’t use headphones because they are dependent on your phone. You use this because it runs on its own D Cells and doesn’t need cell service.
Keeping good music to yourself is rude.
Lol, well jokes aside apparently people think that with how many are blasting brainrot tiktoks on full blast on public transport.
Time to go on a relaxing hike.
not some smelly euro village either
??
As in, not a rural area. It’s just a little banter, I meant no offense.
Are you trolling us?
If not, try getting into meditation, so you can learn to appreciate the moment for what it is, rather than seek constant stimulation.
Technology is ruining humanity, no wonder so many people are lonely and depressed.
Da hell? I’m not lonely or depressed, are you nuts?
Carrying grocery bags to and from my flat isn’t “appreciating the moment”, I do this every other day, it’s just boring and routine so I throw some music on to keep it fun and so I can do something more proactive mentally rather than just stare off towards my feet or surroundings I literally always see anyway.
Enjoy the world around me. Using the extra sensory input to avoid being run over by cars.
Is it really that bad in America? Like I lived in London where cars were plentiful as well but honestly I never had to worry about them, even when I crossed a red by accident or something like that they go so slowly that it was fairly easy to dodge them.
Dons right hand man: alright, the mark has started not wearing their headphones. This throws a wrench in our plans. What’s our counter?
Bobby 2: alls wes gotsa dos is just distract em. Bobby 1, you wait behind the bushes in the parking lot. Wiseguy Phil waits across the street. As soon as 1 sees the mark, he lays on the horn. Then Phil just runs em over while they are looking at 1.
DRHM: but we only got one car!
Bobby 2: sos steals one, do I gotta dos all the thinkin around heres?
My ability to zone out and get lost in my head is legendary.
Although, I have used headphones for grocery shopping during busy times because music helps keep me from becoming enraged at stupid people.
I play music in my mind.
Just birds chirping, wind blowing, leaves rustling, all as I walked the same path I walk all the time<
This would be one why I don’t wear headphones outside. Hearing the natural ambience of a space is rewarding.
The other personal reason is that I’m in front of a screen about 12 hours a day and crave those few hours of respite from being hooked up to technology.
Yeah, once, twice - sure. But you’d be insane to want to listen to largely the same sounds over and over on the same walk day after day. That’s peak brainrot tbh.
Don’t tell this person about the times before the ubiquity of iPods (and later, phones).
OP, might I suggest a “music” detox? Spend a month without the need for headphone delivered dopamine.
Not a guy, but why would I ever do a “music” detox? Why is “music” in quotes? What else would I be listening to?
And what would I do such a thing for?
Turn my grocery shopping into a drag instead of a moment to enjoy and kind of a highlight of the day at times?
If listening to birds chirping and wind blowing through trees while you’re out for a walk is “no stimuli” you have a problem.
Then so does most everyone. It’s one thing to be “out for a walk” with the purpose of a walk, like in the forest or a park, but it’s a whole other thing to be walking for groceries and day after day just zoning out into the same things over and over. That’s insanity.
That’s, erm, life m8.
