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Subway Sociability

Yestarday I was riding the subway uptown to a friend’s house, listening to some random stuff on my iPod, when a whole bunch of kids got on the train with me. They were laughing, talking, and having a good time when they asked another guy, who was also listening to an iPod, what he was listening to.

“Snoop Dog,” said the guy, and all the kids said, “Yeah,” and gave him a high five. They seemed very sociable, and to have no problem breaching the personal non-interaction force field generated by all iPods.

I shrank away into a corner. I knew that if I made eye contact, they would ask me next what I was listening to. 8-year-old punk rock and obscure indy folk, rock, and electronic tunes are not something I wanted to take the time to explain.

Still, they were talkative and friendly. I couldn’t help but look up and smile. Eventually the question came: “Hey, man. What you listenin to?”

“Uh, punk rock,” I said, hoping that would be a satisfactory answer.

The kid who asked me just wrinkled his nose. “Punk rock? Yo, you got any rap on there?”

I shook my head, “No.”

“Let me listen,” said another. At this point I gave up trying to be antisocial, gave them my earbuds and let them listen. “What else you got on there.”

I keep my iPod clipped to my pocket under my jacket. I took it out and the kid who was listening began to flip through it. “Yo, you gotta hear this.”

I chuckled a little while they passed the earbuds around. Eventually the train came to my stop and I had to leave them, but it was a fun experience. It also showed me that I really tend to isolate myself from other people. If I can’t be friendly and open with strangers, how can I ever hope to make new friends. I felt like I had been growing hard towards others.

I suppose I’ve always had a tendency to isolate myself. It might be because I get caught up in an idea, or a project. Maybe I’m just sulking a little bit for some reason. Whatever the cause, it’s not a good thing. It makes me irritable and snippy towards anyone who wants to talk to me when I’m trying to be alone. It’s a very selfish way of thinking, and gets in the way of “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I left my iPod at home when I went out jogging this morning. I said hello to a businessman, gave a young girl directions to the M15 bus, and helped a hispanic man find the immigration office. No more forcefields for me. At least for a little while.