I don’t think this is a bad music problems

Different neighborhoods, work from home, private transportation to work, or—admittedly to a lesser degree—AirPod insulation.

If we were really all this together quality of life in our cities would be taken far more seriously.

Sure, let’s “solve” a minor problem in the grand scheme of things with a much larger evil.

I've also just been in Japan, where nobody's commute has panhandling of any kind, and guess what, everyone there is tuning the world out with their headphones, too. Despite it being kind of verbotten to make noise on the subway, and the few conversations that were happening on it were very quiet.

I wasn't wearing mine during that trip. Because a relatively quiet space was actually pleasant for me to be in. American cities are so fucking noisy, and as a consequence, even people respectful of their surroundings tend to be loud.