When I first started working at BBH, I was placed in a temporary cubicle, until they could get the new Marcom (that’s short for Marketing Communications) area built. It was your run-of-the-mill cubicle - nothing fancy, but it served its purpose. I’m 26 years old - I don’t expect an office with a door or anything fancy like that. So one day I’m sitting there at my desk in my little home-away-from-home cubicle, trying to focus on a document that I’m attempting to copyedit, and the softest whisper of a song starts creeping through the wall of my cubicle, distracting me and disrupting my work. If the music had been either a little softer, or a little louder, it wouldn’t have bothered me - the former I wouldn’t have been able to hear at all, and the latter I would have been able to tune out. At the volume it was at, however, it just enough that I could tell it was there, and I found myself straining to hear it, which broke my concentration all that much more.

After a few days of this, my cube-neighbor started a practice that which I myself am quite guilty of - he (or she - I have no idea who this person was, I never investigated) started putting on one song in the morning and letting it run on repeat until the end of the day. I admit, I do this, too, but I at least do it when I’m either alone (at home, in the car, etc.) or while I’m using headphones. This person did not. And it was still just low enough that I could barely hear it. One morning, I found myself straining to hear “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf. At 8:00 am. At 9:00 am. At 10:00 am. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Finally, I’d had it. It’s one thing to hear a neighbor’s music. It’s another thing to focus every ounce of your concentration to avoid listening to a barely-audible song creeping through from next door. It’s a completely different thing when said song is a really, really bad piece of crappy “music.” At that point, I borrowed a pair of headphones from one of my co-workers who was out on leave. (My former boss at my former job had absconded with my own set of headphones, and I’d never gotten around to buying a new pair. And if you are asking yourself why I didn’t just ask for my own set back, well, forget it. I never even got my last paycheck from him. No way was I getting my headphones back without a big battle, and I just didn’t have the energy to waste on that for a $100 paycheck, much less a $30 pair of headphones.) When I returned to my desk, I found that they weren’t just headphones - they were Bose noise-cancelling headphones. And I fell in love.

Well, my co-worker is coming back from leave soon, and I’ll have to let her have her headphones back. I’ve since moved cubicles and no longer have to drown out hour after hour of Meatloaf droaning on in the background, but I’ve grown accustomed to having those noise-cancelling headphones on. Whenever I put them on, I’m amazed at how loud the AC alone is. I’ve found that I have fewer headaches during the day, and my stress levels have decreased, despite the number of stressful events continually increasing. I needed a set of my own. The Bose headphones, however, run $300, and while in the long-run, that’s not that much money, and I could justify it, it’s more than I want to spend right now.

So I did some research, and found that these other headphones - Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 - get equal or better reviews compared to the Bose. They’re a similar design, but reviews say they hold up better, they’re just as or more comfortable than the Bose for long periods of time, and they’re 1/3 the cost. After shipping, they were something like $125.

They should arrive sometime this week, so I’ll let you know how I like them. For now, though, I’m excited. I’ve never owned a decent pair of headphones before! With their cupped ear-piece design, they remind me a bit of a photo of me that was taken was I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. There’s me, with that big goofy grin I’m so well known for, sitting in front of Daddy’s stereo with his big heavy-duty headphones sitting on my head, practically swallowing it. I’m holding them on, since my little head wasn’t nearly big enough to support them, but I look like I’m in heaven, listening to whatever it was I was listening to (probably Care Bares or Raffi or some other kids’ record I had in my meager collection at that stage in my life… Though I should point out that my record collection hasn’t really grown any since then - I’ve sort of moved on to CDs these days…) Maybe if you pester Mom, she’ll pull out the old photo albums and scan it in for you. :)

In other unrelated news, I came home this afternoon (yes, I left work at 5:00 today!) to find I had a package waiting for me in the main office. Turns out it was a package from Aquent, the talent agency that landed me the job at BBH. As a thank-you gift for using them, they sent me a hand-written card and a really nice tote bag embroidered with the Aquent logo (something similar to this, only embroidered with “AQUENT” instead of a goofy-looking bear). It’s a perfect big-project knitting bag! It was a nice gesture that followed a really great experience with them. I would highly recommend working with these people if you’re ever in the market for a new job in the graphic arts, design, or IT fields.

So with that, it is definitely time to hit the sack. Lucky me, I’ve got an 8:00 am meeting tomorrow. Ah, the life of corporate schlub. :)