What are they listening to?

Since the mainstream use of the Sony Walkman, people have been able to take their favorite audio with them anywhere they like. Do you ever wonder what people are listening to? If you were to see a young business woman in a power suit walking to work with her headphones on – what would you assume she’s listening to? One would guess an audio version of David Bach’s “Smart Girls Finish Rich.” But I threw these stereotypes out the window when I could hear the music spilling out of a middle-aged woman’s earbuds while waiting at a bus stop – she was listening to Blink 182! My theory is that personal music players are popular because they let you listen to music that you could never listen to through speakers for fear of getting caught. So teenage boys are in the zone with Ravi Shankar, retired Navy Seals are enjoying the sensitivity of John Mayer, and grandmothers are rapping with Kanye West.