Long ago, people were perceived as crazy if they were spotted talking to themselves. We soon learned that most of these people were using "devices of the future," aka Bluetooth headsets, to communicate hands-free. This meant that the average person now had the ability to grocery shop while keeping up a conversation...or, more significantly, ignore all other people while in public to have a "private" conversation.
The other day, I estimated that 80% of the people I passed within a one-block walking distance were plugged into mobile devices by some connection, wireless or not.
It's a strange sensation to live in one of the most populated cities in the world, walk through a mass of people, and feel completely ignored. Headphones are the universal signal for "don't talk to me" and the follow up "I will intentionally ignore you if you try to do so."
The ironic part of the frequent public conversationalists (people who prefer to have conversations on the phone while in public, rather than interact with people that are physically present) is that they often forget that the physically present people can hear them too. There must be something triggered in the brain that once you isolate yourself audibly from your immediate environment, it is reciprocated.
I am not ashamed to say that I regularly take advantage of this oversight. It is amazing what people reveal when they perceive they're in private. I have heard personal details about sexual encounters, marital relationships, and embarrassing drunk moments. Come to think about it, hands-free headsets might have been the best possible gift to my life as a commuter. And I don't even use them.
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