I’ve heard people saying that wearing a pair of AirPods makes you look like a douchebag. Well, I don’t know about that, but it fits my story.
A couple of years ago I bought myself one and actually I really like it. While working, I still use the regular wired EarPods because I wear them for several hours, and the AirPods’ battery doesn’t really last that long. But they are really handy for when I go to the gym or doing dishes or cooking, for example. Not having a wire on the way is great, and its Bluetooth works flawlessly.
Anyway, another day I was walking my dog and listening to a podcast with my AirPods when a lady approached me and started asking me something. I couldn’t hear a thing she was saying. So to pause my podcast, I double tapped the right AirPod with my finger. But she didn’t know I was pausing my podcast so I could hear her. She thought I was signaling her something like, “Hey, I can’t hear you” while not removing the AirPod from my ear to give her attention.
She thought I was being rude. I tried to explain to her that I was just pausing my podcast to help her out. But everything happened so fast, and she just walked away pissed off saying she just wanted some directions.
I guess the next time, I’ll just remove the AirPod from my ear.
I’ve experienced something similar with the regular wired ones. People would come ask for directions in the subway and the time it took to a) notice them, b) click the button to pause the audio, and c) actually process what they said, would be long enough for them to have to repeat their question several times, and for me to awkwardly walk away while trying to say something helpful as my train arrived. On top of that, often I wouldn’t know the answer — I take the same train everyday from A to B, I couldn’t come up with another route on the fly if my life depended on it.