Portable music devices seem to be everywhere these days and I wouldn’t be without mine. As a regular commuter to London I’m amazed at how many people now have tubes coming out of their ears. I’m also astonished at how inconsiderate some of these music lovers are. People don’t have any problem spending hundreds of pounds buying a fancy music player, but will quite happily tolerate the cheap leaky headphones that came with it.
So here’s the test. Let’s call it the "Am I a Noise Polluting Moron? Test". While enjoying your tunes in a public place, take both earpieces out of your ears, hold one in each hand then hold your arms out straight in front of you. If you can hear any sound coming from your hands your headphones are too loud. Turn the volume down until the sound can no longer be heard, then return the headphones to your ears. Now look around and enjoy the serene calm around you. If you can’t now hear your music you may already have done irreparable damage to your eardrums. In this case you may need to seek medical advice. If your doctor agrees to release you back into the community, congratulations! You may now buy some decent in-ear headphones. These will allow you to listen to your music a little louder, but not require those around you to suffer the drone of that tinny tat radiating from your head on our way to work.
Leaky headphones – a public menace.