Something random.
Are you comfortable being outside while wearing a pair of earphones or
headsets? When I go to work every night it’s impossible for me not to chance
upon at least one person with an earphone or a Skullcandy-ish headset. They’d sit beside me
in the bus, pass by while crossing the street, and jog past along Ayala
Triangle.
I can’t help but
wonder, anong volume ng music nila?
I tend to imagine
numerous scenarios which strengthen my refusal to go soundtripping while
outside the comfort of my house where people are vulnerable to almost everything.
What if you’re
walking on one side of the road with a pair of headsets on your head and a
long-lost friend sees you from the other side? He/she starts screaming for your
attention but you can’t hear him/her because you’re busy listening to Adele. Hwat
ip?
What if you’re
listening to music inside the bus and a man declares a holdup—that everyone
who doesn’t turn to look at him and start giving his/her money would be shot
without hesitation? You’re busy listening to Coldplay’s The Scientist so you contemplate on the meaning of life as you
stare out the window and watch the raindrops slide down the glass. The holdupper
sees that you aren’t paying attention so he plants a bullet in your head. Hwat
ip?
What if you are
walking on the sidewalk with some emo rock song playing on your earpiece, and
then a mile away, a bus is hijacked by a terrorist who has planted an explosive
on the brakes. Like in the 90’s movie Speed,
if the bus stops, it blows up. So the driver keeps on driving and the wheels
skids off the road and then the bus rides along the sidewalk and then everyone
gets out of the way and then people are screaming at you to run as well but you
cannot hear them because Simple Plan is busy complaining about life on your
music player and then the bus runs over you and then your internal organs
spread on the sidewalk and then— Hwat ip?
You get my point.
Pretty lame for some, but I guess that’s the downside of having such a wild
imagination. I mean, the world is a dangerous place. Things can happen. If you
even dare decrease your alertness by 30%, you’d be in danger.
The people who
usually go out with their ears covered, I praise them for being bold enough to abandon
all care in the world just so they can listen to their favourite songs. I wish
I could be that lenient to myself, but I’m way too paranoid.
What about you? Are
you comfortable being outside wearing a pair of earphones or headsets?










