Routines

I always buy the same headphones. Not the cheapest ones, but one increment up. They're the blue sony ones (earbud style, that way I can wrap them up in my pocket) that loop around the back of your ears and fit in just so snugly that you get a good amount of sound, but not so tightly they're uncomfortable to use for long periods of time. They're pretty hardy and last a long time. Yet, I recently had my last pair break, so I went back to Longs to get a new pair.
I couldn't find them. I looked and looked, but there were none to be found. Finally, up on the top shelf, my eye spotted the Sony headphones. Just one problem--they were black, not blue.
I bought them and all, and theyre functionally the same headphones they always were. Yet, every time I pick them up to listen to some music, theres a brief nagging feeling. After years of having the same blue headphones, black somehow doesn't mesh, doesn't quite fit with the mental image I've made over all these years. It's interesting to think about how much you get used to a familiar thing, such as the sight of your alarm clock first thing in the morning, every morning--or the routine way that you put your cell phone in your right pocket, and your wallet in your left. Everyone has these familiar sights, sounds, and actions, and when they change they can be just a little uncomfortable, even if they're things as small as the color of your headphones.