When should you turn off your iPod?

I am certainly guilty of listening to my iPod quite a bit. I listen to it while I am walking around Philadelphia. I listen to it while I ride the bus. Sometimes I listen to my iPod while I am sitting in my living room, totally ignoring the big sound system that I have.

John Flinn, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, thinks that we might be doing ourselves a disservice by shutting ourselves up in out little sound cocoons. He read somewhere that mountain climbers were upset when they found out that their iPods didn't work well while climbing Mount Everest. John points out that perhaps they should be doing something other than listening to their iPods during such a fantastic experience.

So, dear readers, where is the oddest place you have listened to your iPod? Last summer I had the good fortune to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, and of course my trusty iPod came along for the trip and provided a soundtrack for my time there.