Ranting...

I don't typically like to rant and rave, but sometimes you just have to let it out.

I am sick and tired of people playing their music loudly on the BART, in the bus or just in general.

First, we will start with public transit.

They have things called headphones. They are quite impressive bits of technology. They take your annoying Kanye West album that you are listening to, they miniaturize it, a la Willy Wonka's chocolate bar, and make it so that I don't punch you in the face.

Quite amazing.

Also, why do you have to sit right by me. When I get on the BART on the way home, there is absolutely nobody else on it besides me and the 16 year old kid with music blasting from his iPhone. Why, in god's name, must you sit near me while I quietly read my 20th century British novel? I agree that is, in fact, slightly boring, but you playing "Power" is not going to make it more enjoyable for me. I promise.

The bus is much worse. There is no escape on the bus, unless I want to get off, wait 20 minutes and then get on another one with the same exact song playing loudly on that one. At least on the BART, I can get up and wander to a new car.

The only real power I have on the bus (which I do employ as a first measure on the BART as well) is to glare at the offender hoping that they see the rage behind my eyes and connect this with the music that they are playing. It has only had an effect once. On the way home from work, I sat down in my own private car. The next stop, an older lady and her two grandkids (kids?) got on and sat directly across from me. The son, about 8 years old, had his own iPhone/iPod Touch and decided to listen to some music. I used my super human glare, not on the child (as he had no experience with a grown man with a look of hatred in his eyes), but on the grandmother. After several minutes of my laser eye death stare, the grandmother noticed.

I think she even knew why I was staring daggers at her because she said to her grandson, "We should have bought you some headphones, huh?" I don't think her grandson could even hear her.

Oh well, I tried.

On to private transport. Several months ago, I lived near a grocery store parking lot. Every once in a while, I would hear the beautiful sound of somebody's 12" Sony Xplodes rattling their trunk like there was a 5 foot tall cell phone on vibrate in there. I am all for loud music in the privacy of your own home/car/whatever, but if it sounds so bad that you can't even hear the music any more, you might want to turn it down a notch.

To each there own, I guess, unless your rattling wakes me up in the night. Then, you lose the priveledge to your own.

Many people, my wife included, don't really mind the musically enhanced BART ride or vibrating vehicles, or at least they never mention it. To me, it's just more proof that people don't really notice or care about the people around them.