Living in a big, noisy city is a challenge for anyone who decides to live there. Walking on crowded streets, hearing tons of different sounds or noise and adjusting to a fast-paced lifestyle might cause some anxiety and panic attacks. On the podcast “Ways Of Hearing”, Krukkowsi says: “In Tokyo’s subway, people pretend sleeping in order to avoid eye contact. Here, people use earbuds to avoid ear contact with others.” Creating your own personal, invisible bubble by using earbuds make us feel like we are in a different habitat until we take them off. It gives us a temporary privilege to feel that we are in a different room or place without physically leaving the environment. Although I never have had a problem with noise, I believe that some people need to use earbuds or similar kinds of devices to be in their comfort zone and in order to feel safe. I was born in Istanbul. After college, I moved to London and then 3 years after I decided to live in the Big Apple. Living a big city for my entire life taught me how to ignore the noise. I can even say I enjoy hearing them. On the other hand, my ex-wife had anxiety and panic attacks. Because of environmental reasons, one day she blew up and had to leave to city to live back in her hometown in Pittsburgh. This personal anecdote illustrates how some technological devices have a good, useful impact on people who need to use it for their own peace.