What's on your Ipod?

Have you noticed that as you go down the street, everybody is tuned in/tuned out? Every body has some kind of MP3 player or Ipod or something going. That's fine, I do too. But it had me thinking one day, what's every body listening to?

What started this was as I was walking home the other day, I found myself waiting for the lights beside this other guy. Now, I'm off in some happy place listening to Ridley Bent, or The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, or some other find from the folk fest, and knowing me, I'm likely tapping my fingers along with the music. All good, right? This guy beside me is also plugged in. I don't know what he was listening too, but this man was groooov'n. His head was bopping, arms moving, and as he walked across the street, I expected to see him spin around. And yes, he had a smile on his face. I was tempted to ask what he was listening to, but I was afraid to ruin his moment. It was nice to see, because think about the last time you passed somebody on the street who looked happy?

But it just got me to thinking, what is everybody listening too? I hear about all the kids on the c-train with their earphones up so loud, that you know what they are listening to. But what about the kid beside him? Or the old guy? Ipods, and MP3 players seem to be ubiquitous now. Young and old are enjoying their music on the go.

I'm sure I'm part of the first plugged in generation. I had my first portable cassette player in junior high school. It used 4 AA batteries, had fast forward and reverse, and had volume control for each ear (it was stereo). In high school I was never to be found without earphones on. I'm sure that some place in my parents basement is a fine collection of various Sony Walkmans, and Discmans. When I traveled around the country side for work, I always had a disc player at hand, and usually about 2 dozen CDs. That was a pain some days.

Now today, between my cell phone, and my matchbook sized Ipod Shuffle, at any given moment I have at least 2 days of music and podcasts with me. All in less space than the cassette tapes I first carried around. And let's not talk about the batteries that I went through in high school.

So, what are you listening too? Okay, so it may not be an Ipod, it may be the CD in your car, but somewhere along the way, we have become insistent on the idea that we must have our music with us. If it makes us happier, great. Just think what a groovy place the world would be if everybody was dancing down the street.