Media Priorities

I don't consider myself a very outgoing person.  I'm not one who goes out of my way to talk to a stranger or be extra friendly to someone I don't know very well.  So usually when I'm walking to or from school or even between classes, I'm always listening to music on my Ipod.  Putting in my headphones is my way of saying, "Hey, don't talk to me."  I know that sounds super antisocial but I consider that time "me time."  A time for me to unwind and think my own thoughts and not have to worry about people talking to me or having to worry about making awkward conversation.

Well today after leaving a meeting, I did my normal routine of getting out my ipod and putting in my headphones when one of my friends who was in the meeting stopped me right as I was about to put in my headphones and said, "No!  Talk to me!"  I, of course, didn't turn him down and talked to him as we walked a short distance before we had to part ways.  This experience made me think about how media centered I am!  I remember last semester one of my professors challenging my class to take out our headphones and try to make eye contact with people, smile and say "Hi."  Simple right?  Wrong!  First of all, everybody else has their headphones in or their texting while walking and are preoccupied with their forms of media that they won't even look at you!  I wasn't too surprised to say the least but it made me stop and think about how many opportunities we all miss to make someone's day because we're preoccupied with other, less important, things.