Blog : I heard that

159 posts
9/3/2020 10:33 pm

I heard that

There are times when I put on headphones, or put in earbuds, but do not turn on any music. That is to say, sometimes I will have headphones on, or earbuds in, but music will not be playing. Perhaps I turned it down to hear what was going on around me, but never turned it back up, or maybe I held a brief conversation with someone and didn’t turn my music back on. Once or twice I’ve gotten to the end of a playlist and been greeted with silence, instead of the next track. No matter the reason, there have been many occasions in my life when it appeared I was listening to music, but I was not. There are times when it is purely accidental, but there are times when I’ve done it on purpose as well.

I think I started doing it in High School, mainly because up to that point I didn’t own a personal listening device, known then as a Walkman. When they first came out there were big issues about allowing them into the schools, but the compromise that was eventually reached was simple; you could have it and use it anywhere but in the classroom, where it should be off and you should be learning. That seems more than fair to me. Many people get hooked or<b> obsessed </font></b>about their devices but that has never been the case where I am concerned. I am grateful to have an iPod and smart phone, and life can be strange without them, but I don’t fall apart if I have to go without for a while. That’s the way it was with the Walkman; sometimes I spent hours listening to it, and absolutely had to take it to school with me, but it was very easy to put it down for a week or two and not feel like I was missing something.

I don’t recall the first time it happened, but I do have a first memory of an incident where I overheard words spoken about me because the people saying them thought I was listening to music, and wouldn’t be able to hear them. We (students) were all in a crush of bodies that led into the building, and two girls behind me made a couple of snide comments about me. They were literally right behind me and didn’t even try to whisper, but they thought my Walkman was on, and I was oblivious. I had no witty rejoinder so I had to shrug it off, but the moment taught me a valuable lesson: when people don’t think you can hear them, the ugly truths will often come out.

This piece of “wisdom” clued me in, more than once, about how people really felt about me, especially in situations like prison. I’ve overheard people talking about me on public transportation, in grocery stores, and even caught a couple of gay men making lewd comments about my backside as I walked by them on a bridge. I thought it was funny, so I turned and thanked them and they burst out laughing. Caught!

Sometimes I catch things on accident, sometimes I turn my music off so I can actively listen, but the end result is still the same; occasionally I catch people as they really are, good or bad. Try it some time, you might be surprised at what you catch people saying.


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