iPod iSolation
Is our campus becoming more anti-social because of our iPods? Do we lead more isolated lives? A writer explores this phenomenon, and tries to discover what campus would sound like pod-less.
By Matt Bechtold
mbechtold@kansan.com
I sat on the bus in the early morning, casually glancing around me on my way to campus.Three girls sat at evenlyspaced intervals behind me, each appearing half-awake, but relaxed. They went about their morning routine, sipping coffee or reading a book, each one of them alone in their own little world.
Then suddenly, the energy on the bus dramatically changed.
The girls tensed like gazelles that had just spotted movement in the nearby brush. I turned expecting something predatory, but it was just an awkwardly dressed young man climbing onto the bus. I had never seen him before, but I could tell the girls had, because all three simultaneously produced a set of earbuds and popped them quickly into place.
The young man looked around the bus, sighed, and then sat down across the aisle from me. I almost felt sorry for him. Until he started talking to me. Within two minutes of the most bizarre, uncomfortable small talk ever, I understood why those three girls had a sudden need for music.
10
November 6,2008
photos by Jerry Wang
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