Stop wearing AirPods
This habit is hard but I can tell you the pay off is wonderful: “Takeout your AirPods before ordering your coffee” (I write that while sitting in a cafe wearing Airpods.)
The first week of my experience with AirPods was quite remarkable. This was the first time I really had experience with wireless noise canceling headphones. I didn’t dread leaving my house positioned next to the elevated N train screeching in Queens. They also made listening to podcasts and audiobooks bearable on the train which prior to owning them was next to impossible.
My joy in owning these products quickly became challenged once they were fully integrated into my daily life. It is probably important to give you a little sense of that life because it differs slightly from the norm.
I am and have been for the past 3 years been a stay at home parent which means I spend a lot of time at playgrounds and parks. I found, once my child was old enough to play with other kids without my close proximity I could sit on a bench and watch him from far. This new guardian freedom allowed me incorporate somethat intellectual “adult” time through the form of podcasts and audiobooks which served as a break from the child mindset focused day. (not that there’s anything wrong with that) Being able to keep eyes on my child while also hearing the latest in science news kept my park boredom to a minimum. Here is where the challenges begin.
I made it a point to always remove my headphones when addressing anyone at the park wether that was my child if they came up to ask me something or, I had to address them with the, always pressing toy sharing game played which all parents deal with across the world. I felt this act of removing my headphones was important to make it clear to whomever I was engaging with I was present in the interaction. It seemed having a visible, physical object between me and the other person made it non verbally clear I was not fully active with the inquiry or conversation I was having.
With my old headphones this was simple, with wires I was able to just pull them out of my ears, and without fear know they were going to be there when I needed them again. With the new Airpods this was not the case. Soon I began to notice at the park, I stopped removing my Airpods for simple interactions, first with my child and second with other kids or parents there. I started to become very self-conscious of this action and I soon began to remove them and hold them in my hand, which when dealing with a kid having trouble on the slide having free hands is very important. Next I began putting them in my pockets and quickly forgetting which pockets they were in fearing I lost them before feeling them in the other.
The situation above brought about an attention to times in my daily life where my habits with headphones and human interactions began to change. At the grocery store I would with Airpods in ask an employee if they had any bok choy or at a coffee shop I would give my order through the sounds of a neo-woke millennial podcast ad. Now having a lens to seeing myself showcasing this behaviour I began to notice this is commonplace in our society today. I began to call it “Living life through Pods.”
It was on these very pods I heard about the research done by Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder, Mistakenly seeking solitude. With the insight of the findings of this research I reflected back to some of my coffee shop human interactions sans pods, I was able to recall in most of them I had a pleasant friendly exchange that resulted in the normal experience minus that moment quite mundane. Those research result where showing validity in my life.
It’s funny to think that just removing a silly wire could have such a profound impact on society. I had some thoughts on the design of the AirPods and wether the design team foresaw the sweeping impact of that simple change the way I was beginning to see, I want to save those thoughts for a future post. I continue to challenge myself everyday to leave the door open for human connecting no matter how small or random. My hope would be for society to accept more of those moments as well no matter how fleeting they become.
