As soon as Apple introduced AirPods in December 2016, they almost immediately become the new must-have tech accessory. Two-and-a-half years later, seeing people wearing the wireless headphones that respond to touch and voice command is not an unusual sight. Given their popularity, you might be surprised to learn someone was spotted wearing the iconic earbuds upside down and in the wrong ears. Yes, you heard that loud and clear, folks — if you haven't already seen these tweets about wearing upside-down AirPods, you'll probably relate to the mass confusion that hit Twitter after the picture went viral.
The morning of Saturday, June 1 was apparently a rough one for Casey Newton, the creator of online social newsletter The Interface. Per Newton's tweet, he caught a glimpse of someone wearing upside-down AirPods upon hopping onto San Francisco's metro system, and he tweeted out that he was "absolutely shaken" by the sight. In the photo shared with the tweet, you can see someone wearing the AirPods flipped upside down in their ears. Of course, no one knows if it was by accident or just the way that individual rolls, but Newton and people on Twitter alike were totally shocked.
Newton's caption reads, "Absolutely shaken by the way this man on Muni is wearing his AirPods," and like, I get it. That has to be one of the single most disturbing images I've ever seen. LOL. Hyperbole aside, given how ubiquitous AirPods are, it's definitely odd to see someone switching it up by putting them in the wrong ears to wear them upside down.
As you would probably imagine, people on Twitter were trying to make sense of this new way to wear AirPods.
Others simply took note of the fact that the person was also wearing their sunglasses on the back of their head. Maybe it was a choice in conjunction with the upside-down AirPods, or maybe this person is just a "rule-breaker" through and through.
As with everything, there are two sides to every story (er, tweet). Yep, some people out there in the Twitterverse are actually condoning it, with one user even saying they "just tried it and they fit better."
While most people's first reaction to the upside-down AirPods is "Huh?" especially considering the AirPods are labeled "R" and "L" for right and left ears, others on Twitter are pointing out that there might be reasons for people to wear them in a different way than advertised by the company.
One Twitter user pointed out that people with different hearing difficulties might use an AirPod in the "wrong" ear to put the mic on the correct side.
Another user said they sometimes use the "wrong" one if one runs out of power and they only want to listen to a book or music in a certain ear.
Even though it appears AirPods are designed to have the "R" and "L" pods go in the right and left ears, respectively, Twitter is here to open your mind to a different possibility. Of course, people should wear the AirPods however they best suit their needs, but, from the looks of these Twitter reactions, it might take a little getting used to for the AirPods purists out there.
