Once again, I feel compelled to point out that if you're sitting five feet away from me on a subway train, and I can determine that the singer you're listening to on your headphones is a woman, you're playing the music at a dangerously loud level. Turn it the heck down while you still CAN hear it at lower volumes.

And stop abusing your ears before you end up with a permanent case of tinnitus, like me. In the late 80s, I dated a person whose family friend was in a (pretty darned good) band. So we went to see them perform at various places. The trouble was, most of these venues were tiny little bar/tavern-sized locations, but their sound systems were designed for a place the size of the Spectrum. After a few of these concerts, I noticed my ears were ringing even the next morning and thought, "I should wear earplugs to these shows." I did get earplugs, but too late. The ringing never really went away. And the sad part is, I really didn't attend all that many performances before tinnitus kicked in for keeps; it was maybe five or six concerts before the ringing converted from "it goes away by late the next morning"" to "I'm still waiting for it to stop". Obviously, not everyone will be affected as soon as that, but I can attest that it's possible. Nobody knows that they've drawn the genetic short straw for noise-sensitive ears until *after* the damage is done.

Anyway, it's a pet peeve of mine to see people abusing their ears. Blasting loud music into your ears is the auditory equivalent of staring at the sun: something that's not worth the risk of the injury it a cause.