Sure, I'm old, and don't wear ear buds, and maybe have a different idea of courtesy. I have noticed some of this, of course, where people interacting with me and others still have buds in and active. Hello?
Today's WSJ has a piece on the subject. Today I have a dentist appointment. Maybe I will ask Doc whether people use buds during their appointments, even when discussing their treatment. Leaving aside buds as hearing aids.
From the article:
Hi. Excuse me. Hey. Do I have your attention?
I can’t tell because your AirPods are in.
Human communication was awkward enough before AirPods and their non-Apple brethren became so ubiquitous, but at least some pockets of life seemed off-limits. Not anymore.
Dan Weisel, a family medicine doctor, has noticed more patients keeping their earbuds in even after he walks into the examination rooms at his practice in St. Louis.
“My initial reaction is, that’s rude because it seems like you’re not giving me your full attention,” he said.
Then he wonders if the person might use them as hearing aids, or have a diagnosis like autism where earbuds help control sensory overload. Most of the time, Weisel has no idea if the devices are serving a legitimate purpose or simply delivering the latest episode of “Smartless.”
Most confusing of all is never knowing whether the wireless earbuds are on or off. “It’s the unknown that’s sort of uncomfortable.”
Some patients see it differently. Joseph Montes, a 55-year-old information-security manager who lives near Boca Raton, Fla., keeps his AirPods in all day. “They’re always off, but if someone calls, I can answer,” he said.
The devices are such a constant that when he visited the doctor recently, Montes didn’t understand why the nurse was giving him “dagger eyes.” He finally got the hint when the doctor came in....
In many cases, it’s workers who now find it totally acceptable to do their very customer-facing jobs while other voices fill their ears.
Last month Josh Hammons discovered an AirPod at the bottom of the bag of food he’d just picked up from a restaurant drive-through.
Hammons, a sales account executive at Nashville software startup Topkey, called the restaurant and explained what he’d found. Soon after, the drive-through employee arranged to pick up the AirPod when his shift ended. He also asked Hammons to call his boss and explain that he wasn’t angry.
“‘She’s trying to write me up, saying it’s a food-contamination thing,’” Hammons recalls the worker saying. Hammons declined. “I was like, I’m not mad but I also don’t feel inclined to advocate on your behalf.”
...
There’s bad news, though, for workers who think they can talk to a customer while vibing to the latest SZA release: Humans can’t multitask....
Conversations about earbuds inevitably turn to philosophical topics: Attention. Distraction. Social connection and disconnection....
Weisel, the St. Louis doctor, said his wife, an emergency room doctor, recently examined a patient who was simultaneously engaged in a conversation on his AirPods. “Have we gone to the point where you can’t give anyone your full attention, even in an emergency medical situation?” he said.
Weisel said he is reluctant to judge too much, cognizant that norms are evolving rapidly. When the 35-year-old was a medical student, smartphones were forbidden on hospital rounds. Today, as an attending physician leading new doctors on their rounds, phones are viewed as a useful tool in the learning process.
“Technology influences culture and it influences manners. So I have to tell myself, having earbuds in isn’t something I understand intuitively but maybe it’s intuitive for Gen Z,” he said.
Even some Gen Zers worry about whether earbuds that are permanent fixtures signal a degradation of the culture.
“It’s the Schrödinger’s Cat of communication. Someone might be listening to you, they might not,” said Ryley Silvernail, 28, an IT technician at a healthcare company in Georgia, referring to the quantum physics paradox where an object can seem to exist in two states at once until reality is revealed....
Silvernail wrote a short satire in April about an office worker who hasn’t removed /AirPods since the fourth quarter of 2023.... When co-workers ask the HR department for its verdict on the employee’s behavior, HR’s response is “Honestly, we stopped trying to make rules for people in 2021. We’re just grateful he wears pants.”
Sure, I'm old, and don't wear ear buds, and maybe have a different idea of courtesy. I have noticed some of this, of course, where people interacting with me and others still have buds in and active. Hello?
Today's WSJ has a piece on the subject. Today I have a dentist appointment. Maybe I will ask Doc whether people use buds during their appointments, even when discussing their treatment. Leaving aside buds as hearing aids.
From the article:
Hi. Excuse me. Hey. Do I have your attention?
I can’t tell because your AirPods are in.
Human communication was awkward enough before AirPods and their non-Apple brethren became so ubiquitous, but at least some pockets of life seemed off-limits. Not anymore.
Dan Weisel, a family medicine doctor, has noticed more patients keeping their earbuds in even after he walks into the examination rooms at his practice in St. Louis.
“My initial reaction is, that’s rude because it seems like you’re not giving me your full attention,” he said.
Then he wonders if the person might use them as hearing aids, or have a diagnosis like autism where earbuds help control sensory overload. Most of the time, Weisel has no idea if the devices are serving a legitimate purpose or simply delivering the latest episode of “Smartless.”
Most confusing of all is never knowing whether the wireless earbuds are on or off. “It’s the unknown that’s sort of uncomfortable.”
Some patients see it differently. Joseph Montes, a 55-year-old information-security manager who lives near Boca Raton, Fla., keeps his AirPods in all day. “They’re always off, but if someone calls, I can answer,” he said.
The devices are such a constant that when he visited the doctor recently, Montes didn’t understand why the nurse was giving him “dagger eyes.” He finally got the hint when the doctor came in....
In many cases, it’s workers who now find it totally acceptable to do their very customer-facing jobs while other voices fill their ears.
Last month Josh Hammons discovered an AirPod at the bottom of the bag of food he’d just picked up from a restaurant drive-through.
Hammons, a sales account executive at Nashville software startup Topkey, called the restaurant and explained what he’d found. Soon after, the drive-through employee arranged to pick up the AirPod when his shift ended. He also asked Hammons to call his boss and explain that he wasn’t angry.
“‘She’s trying to write me up, saying it’s a food-contamination thing,’” Hammons recalls the worker saying. Hammons declined. “I was like, I’m not mad but I also don’t feel inclined to advocate on your behalf.”
...
There’s bad news, though, for workers who think they can talk to a customer while vibing to the latest SZA release: Humans can’t multitask....
Conversations about earbuds inevitably turn to philosophical topics: Attention. Distraction. Social connection and disconnection....
Weisel, the St. Louis doctor, said his wife, an emergency room doctor, recently examined a patient who was simultaneously engaged in a conversation on his AirPods. “Have we gone to the point where you can’t give anyone your full attention, even in an emergency medical situation?” he said.
Weisel said he is reluctant to judge too much, cognizant that norms are evolving rapidly. When the 35-year-old was a medical student, smartphones were forbidden on hospital rounds. Today, as an attending physician leading new doctors on their rounds, phones are viewed as a useful tool in the learning process.
“Technology influences culture and it influences manners. So I have to tell myself, having earbuds in isn’t something I understand intuitively but maybe it’s intuitive for Gen Z,” he said.
Even some Gen Zers worry about whether earbuds that are permanent fixtures signal a degradation of the culture.
“It’s the Schrödinger’s Cat of communication. Someone might be listening to you, they might not,” said Ryley Silvernail, 28, an IT technician at a healthcare company in Georgia, referring to the quantum physics paradox where an object can seem to exist in two states at once until reality is revealed....
Silvernail wrote a short satire in April about an office worker who hasn’t removed /AirPods since the fourth quarter of 2023.... When co-workers ask the HR department for its verdict on the employee’s behavior, HR’s response is “Honestly, we stopped trying to make rules for people in 2021. We’re just grateful he wears pants.”
on June 18, 2025, 8:45:44
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