#3: Hit the road, Jack.

Damn. If I had been making a living out of this blog I bet I would've already been dead by now. 

Hisashiburi, people. I posted a teaser tag on Facebook but I actually didn't write anything here. Sorry 'bout that. 


Recently I found out that enjoying music can be quite a difficult topic between two people. 
Introducing new music to a friend is something different, because most cases are preceded by the line "Hey, I want to show you something". Now, enjoying music is more complicated. I wonder if this is because of the Japanese cellphone culture. Oh, with that I mean that whenever the topic is too boring for someone, he/she will start fiddling with a phone. The thing is, recently the following scene has been quite frequent. 


I'll be talking to my friends in my house, a bar, billiards or anything like it. Then, the bomb drops. Somebody pulls out his/her IPhone. That's the sign. Everybody can feel his/her muscles tensing up, almost in a instinctive way of protection. We look at each other, edgy. It gets hard to breathe. All in one second. "Oh, here it comes" is the first thing that comes to my mind, really, because from that moment on, a horde of Youtube videos and loud music will charge upon the other people in the environment - especially people who have nothing to do with that, which bothers me the most - and, according to Murphy, it'll never be funny content or good music.


Okay, I'll take back those last words because, after all, personal taste is something we can't argue about. What I think needs to be enhanced in those people is self-awareness. In short? "Liking something does not mean that everyone else is supposed to like it too". Because it's uncomfortable for both the receiving and giving ends! I'll start with the receiving end.
"Oh, here it comes. Smile. Smile and pretend you're interested. Oh, you're kidding me, this is that horrible music they play in all konbinis, right? What was it again? Whatever, I just know it's a group of five girls who can barely sing. Actually there has been a lot of those recently, huh? I miss good vocals and decent bands with no synthesizer. Oops. Smile. Smile and pretend you're interested. Oh, I LIKE THAT! ...skipped it. Another girl group. Say you've heard the name before but doesn't know it very well. Nod your head in approval. HEY I LIKE THIS!... skipped again. Honestly, how does he get satisfied listening to only THREE seconds of each song? And now it's a boy band. What should I say in those moments? I want to stop him but I can't. And if I pull out my phone too it'll only get worse. Oh God. Smile. Smile and pretend you're interested."


And you can imagine that if somebody follows that line of thought, it's impossible to keep a straight face. It's too much pressure to bear. It's superhuman. Which causes this reaction.


"Oh yeah. Now this is the stuff. 21st century is amazing, look at all the stuff I can download and enjoy in my phone! Right? I bet everyone will love this. I mean, they're so good. And cute. Actually I don't even pay attention to the music but whatever. Huh? They are making strange faces. Let's try this. He likes it! But he already knows it so let's skip it. Oh, but he's nodding. Look! He heard it before, I knew it. Huh, he's spacing out again. Oh, he knows this too, let's skip it. Hands in pocket, he's getting his phone too! False alarm. Bummer. Let's try another song."


As to prevent this kind of situation, my advice is short.


"STOP THE PHONE THING."


It's uncomfortable. And honestly, you're the one who'll get hurt because if nobody likes your taste, you'll keep thinking "stupid people who know nothing about pop culture". It's your loss, really. And stop skipping ALL the songs!
Another thing I forgot to rant about: singing is also forbidden. If you pull out your phone, make everyone uncomfortable AND sing, honestly man, I'm bringing my guns.