By now you've probably seen this story, or some variant of it. Granted, you'd think a beach would be a safe place to run while listening to your iPod, but then something like this happens that's so bizarre. It reminds you that no place, really, is safe.
I like music, and I have an iPod that I enjoy. If we lived on a beach, I'd probably run on the beach while listening to mine. But I'm also aware of how it takes me out of the world when I'm listening to it. It's easy to get distracted when you have music pumping into your ears, and I have a fear that if I'm listening to something while I'm in an environment I don't control, I will miss something that will, at the least, embarrass me and, at worst, kill me. That's why I don't like to wear it when I'm outside doing most things. I would love, for instance, to listen to some music when I'm out running. But I also know that on our little dirt road, there's sometimes traffic, and that sometimes they fly down through there, too. My ears are my best friends when I'm out running. I can hear traffic coming, and know to get out of the way. I'd love to listen to it while I'm out, but it's not the prudent thing to do where I do it.
What I can't get over are the antics of some of the kids these days. You see many of them walking around constantly listening to their iPods or texting away. Which wouldn't be so bad, but they're wandering through busy parking lots doing this stuff, not paying attention to what they're doing. It's a dangerous environment, and I have nightmares of backing over some distracted kid who crosses into my path at the last second. They're unaware of the danger in which they're placing themselves.
It's one thing when you're in a relatively controlled environment, like your home or yard or even a beach (and although the guy got killed on a beach while listening to music, and while he may have been able to save himself if he hadn't had the earbuds in, it's such a random and unlikely event that you really can't blame the guy. It's one of those "the last little piece of Skylab falls down out of nowhere and whacks you" deals that just comes). But out in a place where you know there could be danger...well, it bothers me.