Bopping to the 80s

Last weekend, I was waiting to meet a friend outside of Circuit City in Union Square, and standing on the street corner was a man of around 40 with a small boombox on his shoulder, bopping his head to some electronic beat. I started bopping along too.

"Good, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, great stuff," I said, humoring him.

"Everyone now has iPods," he said. "Keeping those earphones in, they’re in their own worlds. This – this is like the 80s. Everyone can listen. None of these iPods."

I nodded my head, as my friend arrived.

There’s something refreshingly communal about his act. I’ll give him that. But if he ever plays that thing on the subway, I’ll want to bop his head, not mine.