Hipster Headphones: pretentious yet preventative

Walk to class checklist:

Messenger bag. Check.

Drew I.D. Check.

Cell phone. Check.

Ipod. Check.

Obnoxiously large pair of headphones. Check.

Within my group of friends, there are a handful of personal characteristics that I am known for: my obscure music collection, my Buddy Holly-esque black horn-rimmed glasses and my hipster headphones. I am constantly being poked fun at for walking to class, headphones in place and jamming out to the latest indie-alternative EP.

Countless comments may be heard concerning the question of why I must wear such large headphones. My main reason for my intensely overwhelming Sennheiser’s is sound quality. Music is a significant part of my life and the cheap little ear buds they give you with your Ipod purchase just do not cut it for me.

Now, my inner-ear headphone sporting peers may get a few laughs from my purchase, but what they do not realize is that I am not only getting a quality listening experience but I am also avoiding all sorts of negative repercussions of using in-ear headphones. Infection can set in due to the use of ear buds. Your inner-ear is an extremely delicate piece of bodily equipment. Wax build up, water infiltration and hearing loss can occur by directly piping loud jams into your ear. Think of it as if someone is progressively boxing your ears until one day you’re screaming “what!?” to the waitress, only you're 20 and not 75 years old walking with a cane.

In addition to infection, you should consider the dangers of noise canceling in ear headphones. By shoving this mini-speaker into your ear, you run the risk of missing a lot of important things during your every day life. Because it is virtually impossible to completely cancel out noise using over the ear headphones, I am able to avoid being run down by a bike on my way to class. I am able to not miss a friendly greeting from a passer-by, unless it is my choosing to do so because personally, I have this uncanny ability to miss absolutely everything on my walk to class. But this is not the fault of my headphones but rather my constant staring at the ground as it passes beneath my feet.

A final danger of using in ear headphones would be comfort. I can’t speak for everyone but I often get a headache from something being jammed in my ear for an extended period of time. The comfort of the cushioning in my obscenely large headphones allow me to continue my ritual of rocking out to stellar tunes as I roam the paths of Drew University.

So I will continue to take the hipster comments in stride for I know that I am much safer with my ridiculous headphone set while the rest of those Sennheiser haters risk ear injury with their sleek and visually appealing Ipod ear buds.

--Shara Katz

Source:

Maclin, Al "The Dangers of InEar Headphones." The Dangers of InEar Headphones. 14 Sep. 2009 EzineArticles.com. 6 Sep. 2010