I've found that wearing $10 off-the-shelf "musicians" or "high fidelity" earplugs in such spaces helps my ability to hear/understand a lot. Yes, the stem stick

I've found that wearing $10 off-the-shelf "musicians" or "high fidelity" earplugs in such spaces helps my ability to hear/understand a lot. Yes, the stem sticks out, and everyone asks about them at least once, but I usually say something about wanting to "prevent tinnitus" and that it helps me hear them even better and they usually don't ask about it again.