I sometimes listen to music, through headphones, when I'm travelling on my own on a train. Since I regularly make the same journey, it can get a little boring.

I sometimes listen to music, through headphones, when I'm travelling on my own on a train. Since I regularly make the same journey, it can get a little boring. I'm not always in the mood for work and I don't always carry a book/magazine with me; music is an excellent alternative. I wouldn't dream of playing that music out loud, inflicting it upon everyone else. That's the boring explanation. It may lack the keen social commentary that the article speculates on, but it happens to be true.