My Incredible Daughter

My daughter, Beth, loves music. And she really wants an iPod so she can listen whenever and wherever. But she knows that her mother and I are a bit hesitant. I've been in situations where I'm trying to talk with a teenager wearing an iPod, and they don't pull out the earbuds to listen. (I don't really care if they can hear me over the volume of their music; it's a courtesy thing. Either that or I'm getting really old and crotchety.) Additionally, we're a bit concerned about the long-term hearing damage that can be done by too much volume being pumped into the ear canal. Beth hasn't bugged us about it or anything. But we received the following e-mail from her:

Hi Mom and Dad,

I wanted to talk to you about me possibly being allowed to get an iPod. You know that I’ve wanted one for a long time now, but haven’t been able to get one because you guys didn’t like the idea, plus I didn’t have the money to buy one. Well, I have the money now J I think I understand some of your reasons for not wanting me to have one. You don’t want me to retreat into my own little world listening to private music instead of sharing that music and my time with the family. You wouldn’t want me to start listening to music instead of/during school. There are probably some other reasons I haven’t thought of, but those seem to be the two big ones.

I wanted you to know the things I think I would be using an iPod for and what limitations I would want to set on myself to insure that I don’t become obsessed.

(1) I would want to have an iPod to listen to while I’m waiting for Ben at Chick-Fil-A before or after my shift.
(2) An iPod would be useful for long car trips (like the cross-country one coming up) when people are asleep or something else that would prevent me from playing music throughout the car.
(3) Lately I’ve been wandering around the house with nothing to do because people are on the computer in my room, watching TV, and I don’t have a good book to read. An iPod would at least give me something to listen to since no other music systems are available.

As for limitations…
(1) No using the iPod until I’m completely done with school for the day, even if I think I’m still getting a lot done. (with the exception of while I’m at Chick-Fil-A)
(2) If someone started talking to me, I take the earphones out. I don’t pause or turn down the volume, I take them out.
(3) I wouldn’t even bring the iPod with me for short car rides or if we go to visit friends or family. People are more important than my music.
(4) Also, no downloading videos for the iPod, only music. If I want to watch a video I can do it on the TV or the computer.
(5) I would have run any music I wanted to download by Mom or Dad first. That way you know what I’m listening to and what the lyrics are promoting.

There are probably some other boundaries you would want to set, maybe a time limit or something, but those are my ideas. I’ve thought about this for a while now, and I really think that I understand the pros and cons to getting this device. Please take your time to think it over and if you say no, I promise I won’t ask again for at least a year. So don’t worry about me nagging you about it.

Lots of love,
Beth

Okay, now is that cool or what? I'm kind of blown away by this persuasive approach. And, yes, Beth is getting her iPod (all I know is that it's got 30GB and is black). I'm so impressed!