Unplug, please

So, today I caught our lead programmer looking at us all and grinning.

“What?” We all pulled our headphones off or uncorked our ears.

“Oh,” he said, the grin sliding down his face, “I just stopped hearing a noise.”

Silence.

“There was a buzzing sound that just stopped and I was commenting how good it felt that it stopped.”

Staring. Cows, bless them, look more intelligent than we do, geeks all.

“Okay,” he continued, picking up his headphones, clearly embarrassed, “I think I’ll join you in, . . . .” His words trailed away.

In what? Non-experience?

Somedays I wear earbuds with a headset over them so I can hear both my iPod and computer.

Eighteen more years of this? Really?