Cell Phones and Crazy People

"...sure. I’ll call you back as soon as I get home," I say to my friend on my cell phone.  Again, I am grateful that I have the kind of phone where the music that I am playing before the call starts playing again as soon as I’m finished.

"Are you completely crazy?" a voice suddenly calls from behind my back. I turn to see an older woman approaching me. I am confused; I have no idea what she is talking about. But as my mp3 has started playing the music again, I miss her next words. However, I can’t miss the expression on her face; she definitely has something against my phone.

But why? I love my phone: it’s nicely designed, has a touch screen, and, most importantly, an mp3 player. You see, I have an obsession with music; it doesn’t matter to me if I am standing in the middle of the street, in the middle of my living room, or on the tram. I will move to the rhythm, sometimes even singing, even though I am always a little afraid the tram will have to be evacuated in horror at the sound of my tuneless voice.

But right now, the strange lady is jumping up and down in front of me, waving her hands in the air, shouting. Probably ought to talk to her…  I put the song on pause and take my earphones out.

"You young people don’t know how to behave!" she exploded. "Could you be any louder, talking to yourself? You shouldn’t be allowed to use public transportation!" But I am late for class; I just turn around and walk away.

Still a little dazed, I am waiting on the subway platform, listening to more music when my mom calls me. I press the button on the earphone-cable to answer the call, have a short conversation, and continue on my ride. Again, there are people staring at me. Have I forgotten to zip my trousers? Is my make-up smeared? No, everything seems fine….

But not to them, of course. To them I probably seem like a total psycho, talking to myself, attempting to sing. I do realize that, at least sometimes. But you know what? I’m not sure I care. But... don’t tell anybody.