Whaaat?

Speak up, kid. I can't hear you over the Tori Amos blaring from my headphones.
This is so true. I've had an iPod for about two years and I can tell my hearing has gotten worse. In fact, since I've gotten the new one I'm having a hard time hearing the Whatever when he talks and faces away from me. And the Whatever is not a quiet guy.
"Turn down the iPod," he cautions me, "you're going to make yourself deaf."
I guess I should get some of the over-the-ear headphones. My audiology professor at Emerson (had a brief flirtation with speech language pathology) warned us against the earbud headphones way before the iPod came out. But earbuds wrap about the iPod for convenient travel. I don't want to tote earmuffs around with me. That impedes the portability of my portable music player. So, I guess I can choose between my hearing and toting a bigger bag. Right now, I'll handle some detriment to my hearing.