AirPods, Galaxy Buds, True Buds, TWS headphones or whatever you want to call them: it’s pure metonymy. Those severed headphones that have become so popular in recent years, and that sometimes we use so naturally that we end up forgetting that we are wearing them, which leads to awkward situations. Like when we start a conversation with someone… without removing our headphones.
There are more scenarios that at this point are more or less familiar to us but that are still capable of being improved, at least if we are worried about not looking like edges or as people too oblivious to reality because of the AirPods.
When you go to talk to a person, take them off
Both. Talking to someone who has their ears covered by headphones is extreme, it conveys an asymmetric relationship in which one person is interested in listening to the other, but the second is not.
If it is a specific query, you can remove only one
Especially if it is going to be a conversation beyond a brief consultation, of the type “hey, do they sell flash drives here?”. In that case you can take one off.
If the conversation can take longer, keep them in their case
A short dialogue can be resolved by holding the headset in hand. If she is going to go further, keeping them on her can be seen as a gesture that shows the desire to put them back on, and therefore, to end the conversation.
Do not offer one to someone to listen to something on your mobile
Sharing such a headset is quite an intimate thing. It is not usual for a person to want to put anyone’s ear in his ear, nor should it be that he wants to offer his own. Only for highly trusted people.
Use them to subtly signal your availability
When we are in an environment like an office or at home with other people, especially if we are working in the latter case, AirPods can be used to send a passive message to the rest.
Using both is equivalent to being focused and not available for interruptions. Use only one, to be working but be willing to be interrupted.
If nothing sounds, take them off
Keeping them in our ears for no reason is not only weird, but it can make us forget that they are there and even unconsciously go outside with them on, or interact with other people who will be surprised to see us talk to them without having taken them off.
Think twice if you are going to use them when you are with other people
No matter the context: if it’s not obvious that you have a reason for using them, such as taking a call, listening to a voicemail privately, or getting to work; putting on headphones while with other people conveys disinterest and disdain.
Control the volume if someone can talk to you
Nor is it the most constructive thing to be with other people and for someone to talk to you… and you don’t even listen to them because the volume of the headphones prevents you from doing so. Although each one is to their things, we do not stop being together.
Red lines
Driving, in a face-to-face meeting, at a wedding or at a funeral. There are simply situations where no adult should wear headphones in their ears. And of course, understanding what they are without the need for someone to write it down.
Do you think this is just a collection of truisms? Well, I assure you that whoever writes these lines has seen practically everything, and up to here I can publish.
Featured image: Jackson Simmer and Tarun Savvy on Unsplash.
