The wonderment that is the hands-free headset.

Once again, I'm at Panera. I think I found the one I like most. The good thing about it is that they have more booths with electrical outlets, and these booths are in the back, near both the soda fountain and the restroom facilities. The only thing is that it's kind of far from my house.

I'm currently riding out the tail end of the lunch rush. I've been here for quite a while, and managed to have a decent chocolate croissant and soda in the process. The overhead music here has become increasingly loud, so I'm blaring live internet feed on the headphones. I find just a little bit of irony in the fact that "Shout" by Tears for Fears is playing right now.

So, I'm looking across the way at a guy who's been here a bit longer than I have, also on his laptop. Earlier, he sounded like he was conducting a business call on his cell phone. The kicker was, he was sitting at his table, with his hands-free headset plugged into the phone, the earpiece in his ear, and the microphone in his hand, pulled up to his face so he could talk into it. Then, he got so in to his conversation, that he got up from his seat, cell phone in one hand, boom mic in the other and started pacing around in front of his table as he spoke, loud enough for everyone sitting in our end of the building, with the microphone so close to his mouth, it looked like he was going to eat it.

Now, tell me if this defeats the purpose of having a hands-free headset.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go shoot dirty looks at a trio of snotty rich girls who are loudly telling everyone their business in the booth next to me. Send for the Gendarmes if you hear a ruckus.