Earbud Avenging again

Another successful mission from the Earbud Avenger! Dun da dun!
The middle-aged lady's music was so loud from 4 rows away that people were turning around to find the offender. When I approached her to ask her to turn it down, I tried several times saying, "excuse me, ma'am" with increasing volume, before eventually resorting to tapping on the seat back in front of her and waving my arms around. When I told her that her music was very loud, she shouted, "Really?!" with an incredulous face.
She must have gotten her first iPod from her kids for Christmas or something, because it took her a good 2-3 minutes of fadfing with it to figure out the volume settings. Pleasant smiles from other passengers, though so it was a good result.

A new word

Sodcasting - the word for people who play their tinny dance music from their phones like it's a boombox. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13749313

Special thanks to Dr Dee for the link.

The Earbud Avenger is back

On her first day back to the grinding commute, the Earbud Avenger has politely protected the ears and sanity of yet another trainload of passengers.

The offender was a man in his late 40s or early 50s blasting classic rock and trying to dress like Tony Hawk. As he plonked down his iPod, it wasn't even in his ears and the sound could be heard throughout the carriage. Surely he wouldn't put that many decibels directly in his ear canal? Oh but he did, eliciting nervous and perplexed giggles from the table full of teenage girls nearby. He thought he had pulled with his washed up rocker attitude.

When the capeless crusader asked him to turn it down, he looked genuinely surprised and asked, "What, really? Is it loud?". Maybe not to the deaf, sir.

On a related note, I've had several emails recently from friends taking up the mantel of the Earbud Avenger, and even a suggestion to make t-shirts and start a movement. Share your stories here or on Twitter with the hashtag #earbudavenger!

Canoodling

Yesterday, despite having only two slightly overcrowded carriages, I enjoyed my commute. My husband had a meeting in the city where I work, so joined me for the train journeys. Having someone to chat with on a wet platform in the dark was really nice. For once, the person opposite me at the table playing footsie wasn't a complete stranger. It was a pleasant, unusually quiet journey.

At one point however, he did turn to me and say, "Earbud Avenger my arse. There's no noisy people on here". I'm not sure that he was convinced by my repeated assertions that it wasn't usually like this.

When we got back last night to the welcoming bustle of our home city, he reached for my hand and asked me if I always felt like kissing the ground when I got back.

Indeed.

Back to regularly scheduled bitching soon

Know what I love most about the end of the year? No commuting. The hours that I am usually stuck somewhere cold and surrounded by coughing people are instead spent in my jammies with a cup of tea and sweet people. My normal commute and bitching will resume as normal later in the week. Earbud Avenger may appear in fleece undies this time!

Decision Time for The Earbud Avenger

Somewhere in the cold depths of a winter evening, a train bullets through the darkness. Well, maybe it reluctantly chugs through the darkness. The crowded space is filled with the tinny sounds of a playlist from earbuds nearby. Surely this is a case for the Earbud Avenger.

This time it was a tough decision whether to act. The villain actually had ....wait for it... Musical Taste.

Is the role of The Earbud Avenger to stop those who blast loud music from their devices, even if the music itself isn't annoying? Is merely being rude enough to assume others want to hear it worthy of superhero action? Our hero wrestles with this dilemma while her foot taps absently to Al Greene and then "You Shook Me All Night Long". Then, just after the first chorus, the villain fast forwards to the next tune. 30 seconds in, she does it again. The villain is an incessant mid-tune flipper. The decision has been made. She must be stopped.

Chalk up another victory for the Earbud Avenger!

Another score.

The Earbud Avenger strikes again. We may never know why dude vainly trying to whisper into his dictaphone over the noise didn't say anything to the offender, but he was grateful to me for doing it. Come on people! If we join forces, together we can quash the obnoxious.

I'll get you next time!

The Earbud Avenger has met an evil arch enemy. On the bus this morning, a man was playing his music so loudly that nobody could tell where it was coming from. A pal, Hagrid, was on the bus too. Despite being a very large rugby player, he shrugged it off citing his aversion to confrontation and left me to plot my strategy. This was definitely a job for the Earbud Avenger.

From several rows in front, I asked the offender to please turn it down. He smiled disarmingly and removed his earbuds as if to show me it wasn't him. I apologised, and the sound carried on.

A gruff old Yorkshireman shouted, "Ayup Friend!" in a threatening manner at the same man a moment later to no avail. The woman behind Mr Disarming Smile indicated with her head that it was indeed his music we were all suffering from. It was then that I realized I'd been had.

I'd met a tough adversary. He was a traveling douchebag. You may have won this time, but next time you won't be so lucky!

Avenging in silence

This weekend was Halloween and I went trick-or-treating dressed as the Earbud Avenger. I didn't get asked too many questions, considering I had a homemade mask, a cape, and y-fronts over my leggings. My shirt was emblazoned with "Shh!" in a fetching fuchsia applique.

The spirit of the Avenger must have stayed with me, because tonight I was able to silence two separate offenders with a non-threatening, non-verbal request consisting merely of a facial expression. I didn't even have to use my teacher face. Maybe it was the Y-fronts I'm secretly sporting under my clothes.

What's your superhero name?

More than once in the recent past, friends have had the conversation about what superheroes we would choose to be (We are nerds and are fine with it). I've decided on mine and am acting on it.

I've become...[cue big announcer voice and some catchy theme music] The Earbud Avenger! She stops offensive music listeners with a single polite request!

Train Buddy and I tossed around a few costume ideas, but would welcome some sketches.

I've successfully stopped three offenders this week alone, saving dozens of commuters from the annoying dush-dush-dush sound of an astonishing array of really poor music.

Wherever there's an offensive twat, the Earbud Avenger will be there! Oh wait. Hmm. That didn't quite come out right. Slogan suggestions gratefully accepted.