So, being a gamer, I've heard it all through the years. Without even knowing me, people have said things like "You have no social life, you must live in your parents' basement, and you play D&D, don't you?" None of the above are true, yet just because I enjoy a game in the privacy of my own home when I have nothing else going on, I'm a nerd. And yet, most everyone enjoys the greatest antisocial device on the market today: the iPod.
Yes, that's right, the iPod. Why? Because when you use it, or an MP3 player, or a disc man, or a walkman, you are telling everyone to fuck right off and leave you alone. When you use these devices in a public place, you are trying to force a bubble around yourself and block everything else out of your little world. This is insanely antisocial, and yet it is the completely "cool" thing to do.
Don't believe me, go up to someone using an iPod and tap them on the shoulder. You see that look they're giving you? That's the "how dare you burst my bubble you asshole" look. Hell, I've even gotten these looks from people I know and call friend!
When I'm out and about, why would I want to cut myself off from the rest of the world? Do you have any idea what kind of stuff you're missing simply on the subway? How many friends would I not have noticed if I'd retreated into myself as the iPod forces one to do? How many interesting conversations, sights, or situations involving people I know and out-right strangers would I have completely lost out on?
Then there's the music myself. This is a personal belief of mine, but I believe that music is meant to be listened to out loud. That's why it's music, that's why it's pure audio. To me, music looses a good part of its soul when compressed into tiny little nubs or headphones. I'm not saying you have to have to volume cranked so high the room's shaking and you can't hear anyone, but why would you want to smother it and limit it from being heard to such a small area? If music defines you, and you're happy with who you are, then why hide it?
So the next time you think that someone playing a video game in the quiet of there own home, where people traditionally seek to escape and forget the outside world, is lame, think about how much you missed out on while you attempted to force your own bubble from the world for that trip to and from work. There's a lot going on outside your door from the simple to the complex. Take notice of it and experience life, you nerd.
1 comment:
Interesting points, Fearless Leader, though We think you may be over-generalizing a wee bit. We, for one, do not attempt to kill someone who dares interrupt our music listening endeavours. While one does indeed enter their own little zone when doing so, it doesn't mean it's always going to be their own "this-is-my-happy-place-and-if-you-snap-me-out-of-it-I'll-nuke-the-whole-goddamn-world" zone.
Having said that, we do agree, (and it has been chronicled elsewhere) that personal music players have come to the user to be something akin to dark sunglasses - a physical and psychological barrier to the outside world. However, it is dependent on who the user is and how particularly insular they wish to be.
Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with wanting to listen to some music without disturbing others around you. Unless you're one of those inconsiderate buggers who blare the headphones at great cost to both the esteem in which you're held by others as well as your own hearing.
-The Staff
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