The other day I decided to take a walk around the office on my lunch break. I work as a self-improvement guru out of a small office on the second floor of a building filled with many other offices. Usually I work straight through lunch, because as I like to say, you never take a break from self-improvement, but this day I decided I had consumed too many empty calories and wanted to burn a few of them off.
As I strolled down the hallway of the building, I saw a man standing alone in the corner. I didn't know who this man was, or where he worked because, as I just mentioned, there are many people and companies in my building. As I approached this man I heard the sound of a voice. This voice was quiet at first, then grew progressively louder as I marched down the hallway. Some would say that the voice was getting louder because I was getting closer to the man, and I would tend to agree with those people.
I looked around and saw not another soul in the hallway. Just this one man, talking somewhat loudly. His arms were flailing around in the air. Thoughts started spinning throughout my head.
"Is this man talking to himself?"
"Why is he so angry?"
"Should I continue walking down this hallway, or will this angry man unleash his rage in the form of an all-out attack on me?"
I continued undeterred toward the crazy man. He was still talking to himself, and I still didn't know what to think.
And then it hit me. He wasn't talking to himself at all. He was wearing a Bluetooth headset. The man was having a normal free-spirited conversation with a fellow human being, but because his arms were visible and I couldn't see a phone anywhere, I assumed he was just some mentally unstable person talking to himself in an otherwise empty hallway.
The point of the story is this: When you talk on a Bluetooth headset, you are going to look like a crazy person. I don't care how long these headsets have been around, how many people use them, or how many times I've been fooled. It doesn't matter whether you're standing in a hallway or driving in your car. Everyone I see talking on a headset looks like an insane person.
So what's the lesson? There are many others like me who don't use headsets and who view headset users as deranged individuals having inspired conversations with no one in particular. As a Bluetooth wearer, you should be cognizant of this fact and realize how truly insane you look to the average passerby. Normally it's not something for you to worry about, but let's say someone important is coming to your office for a meeting. Do you really want their first impression of you to be that of a crazy man rambling to himself? No, you probably don't. So remember, never talk on a Bluetooth headset when someone important is on their way to come visit you.