![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 17th, 2005 10:37 amSaw an article- okay, a headline- in the newspaper the other day. Something about the iPod People. You know, the ones on the subways of New York (or wherever- this was a local paper) with white bud earphones, listening to their own private music, ignoring the sounds of the rest of the world. How sad for our society. How isolated we become. Where is the interaction, they ask.
Dude. SNAP OUT OF IT.
The New York City subway is not a place to interact. Yeah, you get interesting people and fascinating conversation sometimes, but you know what else you get? You get cranky people who just want to get to their destination. You get people who were thinking about something, but talk because they have been talked to, because that is Polite. You get people who consider 'he made eye contact' to be a valid defense against charges of felony assault. You get people who smell. All kinds of people.
What makes you think that any of the iPod people would have socialized with you anyway, huh? Or with anyone. They're enjoying themselves. They're listening to stuff they like. Was there a commonality of experience in terms of music in the subway before? NO. Subways don't play music. They make noise. Was there a stimulating and potentially useful discussion of issues relating to the lives of New Yorkers before? MAYBE. Depends. Do you consider 'what the !*&( does the !*&()&!*@ing MTA think they're !*&!()& doing?' to be stimulating? Then maybe.
The whole point of the iPod on the subway is to ease the transition from public to private space. People in New York City survive by establishing their private space anywhere they can. There are eight million people here on any given day- more if you include people who come in from out of town. There isn't enough room for them all. If they're going to maintain any kind of psychological stability, they have to have their own space somehow. There's not enough space to accomplish that in the physical world, so they do so inside their own heads. Personal space is at a premium everywhere except inside three pounds of grey matter.
Which is why I have a real beef with the people who complain about the iPod People. Or, in a previous generation, the Walkman People. What gives the complainers the right to my grey matter? Seriously. Why is it, in this country, that someone who is minding his or her own business and keeping to his or her self is considered wrong, rude, abnormal? Why do the rights of someone who wants to talk to a stranger override that stranger's right to maintain their own territorial boundaries? We consider it rude to phone someone and insist on talking to them at home; why is the person who does not want to socialize in public considered rude? Do we have to stay in our caves if we are to be considered socially acceptable?
Oh, wait- but that's not right either. Staying at home and not interacting is a sign that you are Deficient. You don't want to deal with people because you are Afraid. GET OUT AND INTERACT WITH THE REST OF THE HIVE, WORKER BEE.
Look, I'm not saying that people shouldn't socialize. I'm not saying that they shouldn't interact with strangers. You meet some great people that way and it's really a fascinating experience. But for the love of the Force, man, could you- and by 'you' I mean 'the forces of society at large'- please understand that isolation is not necessarily a bad thing? We cannot be 'on' all the time. We cannot constantly deal with other people and never have time to ourselves. If that were the case, there would be no houses. There would be buildings with roofs and four walls and a huge sleeping space in the middle where everyone would pile up like puppies, because hey, who needs personal space? Maybe there'd be private bathrooms, since we don't want to see that, but otherwise, forget it.
People are entitled to privacy. If they want to talk to you, they'll make that evident. But this city is already sleep-deprived, tobacco-deprived*, and constantly constantly constantly ON ON ON. Don't begrudge its residents the right to hold onto some measure of personal space on the subway. It’s not like they're taking it from you; it's the space between their ears.
For the sake of New York, please, leave the iPod people alone.
*I don't smoke. I don't like smoking. I think it's a horrible unhealthy habit. But I also think that it’s not fair to tell people who smoke that they're not allowed to do it any more and not give them any kind of alternative. Smoking helps them cope with daily life; telling them that they cannot relax and indulge in an ever growing list of places may be good for their physical health, but utterly ignores the effect of stress upon the psyche. It's just not right.
Dude. SNAP OUT OF IT.
The New York City subway is not a place to interact. Yeah, you get interesting people and fascinating conversation sometimes, but you know what else you get? You get cranky people who just want to get to their destination. You get people who were thinking about something, but talk because they have been talked to, because that is Polite. You get people who consider 'he made eye contact' to be a valid defense against charges of felony assault. You get people who smell. All kinds of people.
What makes you think that any of the iPod people would have socialized with you anyway, huh? Or with anyone. They're enjoying themselves. They're listening to stuff they like. Was there a commonality of experience in terms of music in the subway before? NO. Subways don't play music. They make noise. Was there a stimulating and potentially useful discussion of issues relating to the lives of New Yorkers before? MAYBE. Depends. Do you consider 'what the !*&( does the !*&()&!*@ing MTA think they're !*&!()& doing?' to be stimulating? Then maybe.
The whole point of the iPod on the subway is to ease the transition from public to private space. People in New York City survive by establishing their private space anywhere they can. There are eight million people here on any given day- more if you include people who come in from out of town. There isn't enough room for them all. If they're going to maintain any kind of psychological stability, they have to have their own space somehow. There's not enough space to accomplish that in the physical world, so they do so inside their own heads. Personal space is at a premium everywhere except inside three pounds of grey matter.
Which is why I have a real beef with the people who complain about the iPod People. Or, in a previous generation, the Walkman People. What gives the complainers the right to my grey matter? Seriously. Why is it, in this country, that someone who is minding his or her own business and keeping to his or her self is considered wrong, rude, abnormal? Why do the rights of someone who wants to talk to a stranger override that stranger's right to maintain their own territorial boundaries? We consider it rude to phone someone and insist on talking to them at home; why is the person who does not want to socialize in public considered rude? Do we have to stay in our caves if we are to be considered socially acceptable?
Oh, wait- but that's not right either. Staying at home and not interacting is a sign that you are Deficient. You don't want to deal with people because you are Afraid. GET OUT AND INTERACT WITH THE REST OF THE HIVE, WORKER BEE.
Look, I'm not saying that people shouldn't socialize. I'm not saying that they shouldn't interact with strangers. You meet some great people that way and it's really a fascinating experience. But for the love of the Force, man, could you- and by 'you' I mean 'the forces of society at large'- please understand that isolation is not necessarily a bad thing? We cannot be 'on' all the time. We cannot constantly deal with other people and never have time to ourselves. If that were the case, there would be no houses. There would be buildings with roofs and four walls and a huge sleeping space in the middle where everyone would pile up like puppies, because hey, who needs personal space? Maybe there'd be private bathrooms, since we don't want to see that, but otherwise, forget it.
People are entitled to privacy. If they want to talk to you, they'll make that evident. But this city is already sleep-deprived, tobacco-deprived*, and constantly constantly constantly ON ON ON. Don't begrudge its residents the right to hold onto some measure of personal space on the subway. It’s not like they're taking it from you; it's the space between their ears.
For the sake of New York, please, leave the iPod people alone.
*I don't smoke. I don't like smoking. I think it's a horrible unhealthy habit. But I also think that it’s not fair to tell people who smoke that they're not allowed to do it any more and not give them any kind of alternative. Smoking helps them cope with daily life; telling them that they cannot relax and indulge in an ever growing list of places may be good for their physical health, but utterly ignores the effect of stress upon the psyche. It's just not right.
