[potatolicious]

> "and you can also use the time to talk on the phone, listen to podcasts or books on tape"

Agreed on the walking, disagreed on the disconnection. Personally I feel like people have gotten disconnected from the world at large and each other for little more than a few tunes and podcasts.

I see everyone everywhere with earbuds stuffed into their ears - drowning out the activity and life all around them, absorbed into tunes that they've heard a million times already before.

I am often tempted to do the same - but over the last month I've made a concerted effort to eliminate headphone use while out and about (including commuting), and I think I'm a lot better off for it. I've had many an interesting conversation, have been more aware of my surroundings, and generally noticed and appreciated a lot of the things around me in the city that I used to just walk past without the slightest awareness.

I highly recommend this to anyone.

[starkfist]

I sort of agree with you but I walk to work at 5:30 in the morning. Nobody else is there. Also NYC has the opposite problem of most places in the USA. You're bombarded with so much "activity and life" that you tend to grab any amount of personal time you can get.