Just Walk Away

The Sony Walkman turns 32 this month. Its modern descendant, of course, is the iPod -- and every time I see some kid bopping around in public with head phones stuck in his ears, completely oblivious to other people and the world around him, I wish it'd never been invented.

A few weeks ago, I watched an idiot teenager try to check out at a Target while listening to music on his iPod. Every time the clerk asked him something, he'd reach down to hit pause, then look at her and say, "What?" Then she'd repeat herself, he'd answer -- then he turned his music back on.

If I ever get access to a time machine, I'm going find out who invented the Walkman and kill his parents before he's born. Skynet my ass; portable music players will be the death of civilization as we know it.