You'd Think I'd Learn

You know the saying "Humans are creatures of habit"?  I never really considered myself as one.  A creature of habit I mean, I do consider myself a human.  Sure, I brush my teeth twice a day, take a shower everyone morning, eat three meals a day (though my ability to do that has been tested since becoming a college student) etc.  I have a habit of daydreaming, speaking to fast and taking a nap once a day.  However, I wouldn't call those routine or anything.  Today, however, I became of one habit that I need to break.  When I walk home from campus, I always am listening to music.  I have my headphones in, my music up pretty loud and I am completely unaware of the people around me.  If I am not listening to anything, I get bored on my walk home.  The first time this habit caused a problem was in September.  I was walking home from British Literature and I was plugged in, as usual, when I looked to my right and realized that a young man was walking next to me.  I took out my headphones because it appeared as though he was talking to me.  I smiled and said "Um, hi....were you talking to me?"  He looked at me, kind of embarrassed and said "Ya, sorry, I didn't realize you were listening to music."  Apparently, he was the kind of person that did not need an acknowledgment to dive into a conversation. What if this guy had been telling me a personal story or something and I had had been unaware?  He probably thought I hate him. I apologized and we talked until I reached my apartment.  Overall, it was not a terrible experience but I was embarrassed for myself and for the random guy next to me.  For about two weeks after that experience, I did not listen to music on my way own.  And what would you know, no one else talked to me.  I figured that the silence would continue so I returned to my old ways.  Today, I was reminded of why I needed to break the habit.  I was about two minutes away from home when I felt a tap on my backpack.  I turned around a saw a good friend of mine walking behind me.  He told me he had called my name but I didn't respond.  He was the one who suggested that I probably ignored the stranger man's life story.  We only got to have a 30 second conversation and too think it could have been so much longer if I would have stuck with my no-headphones goal!  I am going to try and learn my lesson.  I would pick a good conversation over a repeated playlist any day!