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Originally Posted by moonboy403 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
High school is really just a process. You'll make many worthwhile friends in college that will stick unlike hs, partly because people tend to mature a bit. Which college are you going to?
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My sister said that too. But she also said the same thing about junior year in high school when she was a junior in high school and senior year in high school when she was a senior in high school. Sooo I don't really give a rat's ass about what she says now haha. My brother, who just graduated from college, told me that although college
should have older and more mature people, no matter what environment I'm in, for example, college, or even after college, there will still be a fairly large amount of immature ******** around you. Or me.
Well, I guess that
at least there will be a drastically smaller amount of immature ******** in college than in high school, so you're right.
I've been accepted to UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz, but I decided to go to DeAnza (community college) for two years, then transfer to a music conservatory. I decided to do this because I need to stay in this area so that I can still take saxophone lessons with my current teacher.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enthusia /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Sounds like you've been through a lot. If growing out your hair gives you more self esteem, more confidence then do it, but other than that your really just hiding what you really are, an audiophile. In this society you can never be liked if you don't go with the "norm." It's just human nature. If you try to be different your going to be treated different. I myself am a lamb to society, I go with the flow, I don't wear full size headphones out in public, only ear canal headphones, I don't really feel the need to, it's not worth the negative comments. That's just how I feel, some people think that's wrong and you should just be yourself. But when people start giving you negative feedback constantly, you will go crazy, subconsciously and consciously. I've seen a few cases on these forums.
You seem really worried about your hearing. I don't know what you do and how you live, but your environment can't be that noisy. I live in the city and that is as loud as it gets. If you really did care about your hearing that much, then you wouldn't do anything to damage them in the first place. I know that sometimes you might need the earplugs but being paranoid is not a good way to go through life. As for me using earplugs, I only use them at home so that I can study and do my homework and occasionally some concerts. Wearing them 24/7 isn't natural, your ears are designed to take in noise, let them.
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If earplugs make it that much harder for me to make or keep friends, or even girlfriends, then growing out my hair to conceal my earplugs is definitely worth it to avoid making it harder for myself.
The reason why I would need to wear earplugs often is because I'm a musician. During high school I played in the marching, symphonic, and jazz band. I also practiced and still practice at home. The saxophone can get pretty loud. After warmup, my ears are usually already ringing (just a little bit). All of these activities can have sound pressure levels higher than 100 dB.
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Originally Posted by nickdawg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Now would be a good time to go into audiology and open a hearing aid shop. With the baby boomer generations getting older plus the younger generations are definately going to need these services-at a younger age than ever thanks to these loud ibuds and clubs/bars.
It's insane!! I've seen some YOUNG kids with ipods/headphones, more lately than ever. And especially if they're using crappy open earbuds and using loud levels, they're gonna have damaged ears around thirty at least.
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You should see the school buses. They don't have sound insulation of any type; during the ride, noise from the bus/road is usually around 70 or 80 dB. Kids with their iPods or even cheap cd players would crank up the volume in their cheap, non-isolating ibuds/earbuds (I just KNOW that they aren't pk1's
) The volume on the iPod would be 100%, no volume lock. And this is in the U.S., so there's no European volume limitation on the iPods. Sometimes when I try to communicate to one of these classmates of mine, they do not respond. At all. ... Because they cannot hear me. Or anything. They're blasting their music to such loud volumes that I can hear their music.
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Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Eh, **** what society thinks of you, especially if said "society" happens to be high school. As someone else said, high school is just a process, and once you're done with it, you won't be in that environment ever again, so don't sweat it if idiots give you a hard time.
Of course, that's easier said than done, but still, if your so-called "friends" abandon you because you care about your hearing, then maybe you need some new friends.
At some point in their lives, people actually figure out that being "normal" is pretty boring, so they get into whatever they can get their hands on... yoga, martial arts, bizarre philosophies and religions, basically anything to distract themselves from the oppressive norm of our consumerist, suburban shell-shocked society. So, being normal becomes a lot less important and being quirky and non-conformist becomes a lot more socially acceptable.
Having said that, wearing headphones of any kind in public where you're expected to be open to communication is pretty anti-social, and wearing earplugs in the same setting would probably be seen as even more anti-social, so there is reason for their behavior - if not for the way in which they confronted you about it.
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At a time, I tried to disregard what others said and wear my earplugs anyway, but since there was no one who would actually accept them, I realized that I would have no friends if I continued on.
Sure, people can get into other hobbies to break away from the norm, but hobbies are respected, while earplugs look weird. Or maybe I'm wrong... But that's just the way I see it right now. It's kind of the same with kids my age. They respect my interest in audio, and even revel in it; however, it was these same people who teased me about the earplugs.
You hit the nail right on the head when you said that earplugs appear to others to be antisocial. However, hypothetically, if enough awareness was spread about hearing protection and accurate musicians' earplugs (like the ER-20), then people wouldn't have a problem with earplugs in the seemingly antisocial aspect of it.
Sorry, my english is getting really bad 'cause it's getting really late. I'm tired, but I CAN'T SLEEP.
EDIT:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
you can most likely stick them in deeper, especially if you change their tips.
mine can hardly be seen if i do put them in. for ultra deep insertion AND health benefits, use olive oil
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I haven't told you guys about one bit:
Before I started the thread, I dissassembled my ER-20s, every last piece. I sanded down the outer plastic cap by 1/4 of an inch (underwater, so that the plastic would stay cool enough not to melt and warp, and so that the plastic powder would be caught in the water), and I cut off the same amount off the eartips' stems. I also put a thin coat of olive oil on the flanges. Now you can't see them in my ears unless you are at my 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock (a.k.a. directly to my left or right). And to prevent that from happening, I grew out my hair.
