Death of a Headset

A few weeks ago I wrote about a week full of everything breaking and promised the follow up story of the death of my cell phone headset. Before I tell that story, I'd like to report that since that post those nice pink girlie sunglasses have broken. Yep, no kidding. So, I'm now sporting a sturdy pair of blue-tinted Foster Grants. I certainly hope these last longer than a month or I'll go broke keeping the sun out of my eyes.

My cherished Winnie the Pooh keychain also bit the dust this week...but I digress...

Cell phone headsets. T-Mobile, my provider, is gracious enough to supply a free wired headset with every phone purchase. This is a great bonus for me because prior to that added benefit, I'd buy a headset so I could easily chat on the phone while driving. I find myself in my car a lot and I can maximize the drive time by making phone calls. But, I like to be handsfree so I can keep both hands on the wheel. The downside of these headsets is their tethering wire. I leave them in the car, simply because that is the main environment for usage, but because of the long wire, they end up everywhere in my car. In the floorboard. Wrapped around my gear shift. Hanging from my rearview mirror. Strategically dangling between seats. I yank that sucker out of the phone when I leave my car and the poor headset ends up wherever it lands.

This type of behavior is obviously not healthy for Mr. Headset. Usually he would meet his demise in some grisly way....stepped on while exiting or entering the vehicle...drug out of the car while clinging on my purse straps....it was never a pretty sight. After its life ended, I'd head back to the T-Mobile store to procure another headset and prayed it lasted longer than my previous ones. Maybe I need a course in the care and feeding of a headset.

So, a few weeks ago, during my week of breakdowns, I left my office and headed to the parking garage. As I loaded up my car and prepared for the drive home, I didn't plug in my headset right away. I had a nice leisurely drive ahead of me...no phone calls..no interruptions...just the sound of 80's music flowing through my radio speakers. As I turned out of my garage and headed down First Street to Market, I heard the funniest noise. It sounded like a crushed cola can was hung up in my wheel area. Before I made it to the first stoplight, it hit me. My headset. A terrible visual entered my head. Mr. Headset #65 was about to meet his doom. Once I stopped at the light, I began feverishly searching for the headset and found it! Well, part of it. I followed the tether and found that it was snuggly closed in my car door. I opened the door to quickly retrieve it, hoping the plug portion of the headset is what was flailing in the wind. Much to my dismay, it was the earpiece. Or what was left of it. I hummed a few bars of Taps and accepted the fact Mr. Headset's life was over.

The next day I decided to put this terrible cycle to an end. I headed to T-Mobile and invested in a wireless blue-tooth headset. Not only can I freely move about while it's connected, but it can fit comfortably in the side pocket of my car door. Plus, it will work with any blue-tooth handset, so it should outlive even my phone.

So far so good. I'm enjoying my wireless freedom and the sturdiness of my headset. If it falls off my ear and flies out the window, I may just give up my cell phone completely.