Friday August 21st

The most recent trend that I have seen over the last year is the amount of people that listen to their iPods while riding. I am sure the diversity of music would make for an interesting compilation CD. I personally don't listen to an iPod because I use my time on BART as a time to relax and have as little stimulation as possible. Others, their iPod probably relaxes them or at least passes the time.

Here is my problem. Too many people blast their iPods while riding and the noise can be very annoying. It's like pulling up next to a car at a stop sign when they have their windows down and blaring their favorite music. I don't need to hear it but at least the light turns green and I can drive a way from it. On BART, we are stuck with the obnoxious noise/music for a long period of time. Sometimes 5 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes. In any case, it is totally annoying!!!

Take Friday. I had just gotten off of work after a hectic day and week and I just needed to relax on BART before I got home. Normally when I get on BART, I do make an effort to not sit next to anybody who is listening to an iPod for the above reasons. On Friday, the only seat left was next to a young girl who of course was listening to her iPod. It wasn't until I got settled in my seat that I noticed the extreme sound that was blaring through her ear buds. All I could think of was I hope she gets off soon so I can relax. Sure enough, she outlasted me and I ended up getting off first but not before I had to listen to some of her cheap dance/house music. I walked off the BART train and realized that I had a headache that I hadn't entered the train with.

To the girl that I sat next to: Thanks for making my BART ride lousy. To everyone else, please be considerate in listening to your iPod. Go ahead and listen to your music but please keep the volume down.