It seems that everywhere one looks one will see little white dots in people's ears.
It was only recently that I learned they are called 'Airpods'. Until then I though they were called 'Earpods'. A reasonable assumption I think, but that's the local accent to my English ears (or airs). When we first arrived on these shores many years ago my sister came home from her first day at her new school with a friend who surprised us by declaring that my sister was something of a 'Silly Britty'. Turns out she said 'celebrity'. And I referred to a new friend of mine as 'Clear' for a year or more before I realised her name was in fact Claire. And of course there's the faux pas which catches out many a newcomer to NZ; having been asked to turn up to my first NZ barbecue with a plate, I assumed they were short of them and did just that.
But I digress. Airpods. I hesitate to speak to someone when I see one or more of their ears thus occupied because it is likely that they are listening to something else. I have been guilty of the same thing and have since resolved to do better; I was walking along the street in Cambridge, engaged in a phone conversation on the Airpods, when one of my clients stopped and started talking to me, unaware of my pre-occupation. The ensuing confusion was inevitably awkward and the client was apologetic for having interrupted, yet it was I who was at fault - apart from the small white earpieces I was giving every appearance of being a normal person, available for conversation.
And while we are on the subject, why should a phone call, or even just a text message, take precedence over an actual, in person, conversation? Many times I have been talking to a salesperson in a shop, only to be interrupted by the phone, which the salesperson then answers and proceeds to have a new conversation with the unseen imposter who is clearly more important than I am, with my money right there. Or chatting with family or friends when the text message 'ding' goes off, the other person looks at their phone and before you know it is wafting off into cyberspace, looking at a video of a kangaroo stuck up a tree, and then a cat riding a lawnmower ... Excuse me, I thought we were talking?
My conclusion: If you are going to be unavailable for communication in this way, get a red light, like the 'on air' light they have outside radio studios, put it on your head, and turn it on when you are 'engaged'.