Urghhhhhhhgruuuuu.....flessssshhhhhh.....
Today sucked, genuinely sucked, it wasn't a bad day all around, but it was just because my favorite set of ear buds decided to crap out on me last second so I had to go through the day in complete silence.
Which, in my personal opinion, is genuinely miserable.
The worst part was that they were actually pretty new, only two years old, and my last set gave me a good five. But one of the speakers just decided to blow out entirely and I'm not only going to listen to music in one ear for the rest of the time I have them.
But it doesn't matter now, shit happens and you just have to move on in life. I'm sure there's some inspiring quote out there about hurdles for this exact reason. So, I do as everyone does and go buy new earbuds with my already limited budget.
My job isn't the best, dead end at a packaging facility with a boss who thinks since I can actually do my work it's okay to pile more on me for free. Luckily, I have a bit of leftover spending money, so while I won't have anymore outings these next two months, I at least won't be entirely miserable during them.
Things are expensive now though, it's price tag after price tag, google search after google search, checking reviews and wondering how some of these got past the first testing trial with so many glitches.
But, eventually, right near the back of the rack, tucked awkwardly away because they probably don't bring in as much money as the others, is a plastic container with a little square black case inside.
It's shockingly cheap, there's not many reviews on them but none seem too bad, and they'll at least last me until I can save for some actual good ones, and maybe still have enough to catch dinner with my friends sometime.
I go to the counter, the cashier looks at me funny but I think it's because she never really sees anyone buying these, that or I'm more disheveled than I first thought. Then I pay and walk out.
Back home after a long drive, the radio louder than normal to make up for what I was lacking during the time I was standing awkwardly silent in that store. Unlock the door, step inside, kick my shoes off and watch them thunk against the shoe rack I never bother to actually use properly, and sit down to set everything up.
The case is pleasantly warm, I think they were pre-charged since the little light on the front for the battery shines yellow instead of red, most likely drained while it was sitting out on the rack. I grab the little manual, press down on the two little black earbuds while they're in the case to turn on pairing mode, and finally get them connected.
The manual, of course, says things about how you should take them out regularly, and how constant loud playing can "irritate" the speakers. A strange word for it but it's not something to pay much mind to.
Of course, I don't listen, because I love destroying my hearing one song at a time. They mold to my ears surprisingly comfortably, they're never cold out of the case, and they must run on solar power or something because every time I put them back in they're already charged. It almost feels uncomfortable to take them out now, like I'm taking some part of my ear with it.
Yeah, it's... almost ironic looking back on it now. Staring into the mirror as I take out my earbuds to shower and watch blood trickle out of my ear canal, freaking out and then seeing how pale and disgusting the inside of my ear has become, how its soft and sensitive and spongey with little porous holes in the flesh, everything is muffled and I can't tell if the swelling is blocking it, the blood, or if my ears are just infected and dead already.
I can only attribute it to one thing, and to i take those damned earbuds and throw them on the tile, watching the backs of them break off and start bleeding how it oozes onto the tile and stains it red how I can see bloody flesh underneath how I can see it pulse like it breathes and the little blood-stained hairs on the eartips like soft bristles that act like mosquitos how it mo v e s
