Anywho, there was this twenty-something woman with jet black hair parted to one side, bob length. She had a bright purple, old school puffy jacket, kind of like a purple version of the jacket worn by Jennifer Lopez in her "Feelin' So Good" video.
She was quietly rocking a Discman. Large and in charge Discman. Obstructing her purse Discman. She changed CDs and was listening to an old MCA Records compact disc, and it was just kinda glorious to watch. The deliberateness, and patience, and slow pace was nostalgia and hypnotism at once. I would remember for the longest time, I had my old school water resistant Koss portable CD player, bought for cheap at The Wiz (none other) for 20 bucks. One of the best 20 bucks ever, because it was the baddest ass CD player ever. It had rubber on it, and didn't need skip protection because it was a beast of a CD player. It was ginormous. Even if I was a weirdo, everyone loved my CD player. I could submerge it in ze water and it would still play. I had to carry it in my hands everywhere because it didn't fit into any pocket. A tank wouldn't survive a head on collision with it.
So as I saw this woman with this Discman, and not for ironic or hip reasons, switch CDs out, from one full album to the next, I smiled. I bet I could still do it like that (I'm partial to listening to albums straight through). It's not just a technology thing, but the transition from tapes and CDs to something like an iPod is the patience with which we listen to music, the time we take to listen to musicians and the complete work that they record. Of course there are great singles. That's why we take the time to make mix tapes and CDs. The charm is there. You think about the music more. It's great.
Picture this CD player, but a snap on arm on the right and a light gray front. About twice as thick too. And large kooky rubber buttons along the bottom. And the word Koss was embedded on the plastic front.
Oh and before you forgot that I referenced a J Lo music video, BAM:
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