As I’ve shared before, I go to the local YMCA to workout three mornings a week. I use the cardio room, which is as cold and silent as the Arctic tundra. I don’t have a set routine for my workout, nor do I have a specific machine that I must use when I go. I have learned, however, that there are 3 treadmills with the built-in TV that have the closed captioning switched on. Even when I’m listening to music, I’ll watch the TV and sort of pay attention to what’s going on.
I got some new headphones a couple of weeks ago when hubs came home from Target with some he thought would work for #3’s birthday present. I asked him to try to find kid-sized ones, but he came home with regular ones. No worries. I claimed them because mine were getting old and manky.
I hate these new headphones. They shock me. In the ear! I use my phone as my mp3 player, so when I slide it in or out of a sweatshirt pocket, it shocks me. When I was at the gym running earlier this week, it shocked me! But only in the left ear. So I unplugged it from my stinging ear and tucked the offending earbud into my bra strap. I could hear electricity crackling in my right ear, but nothing painful. My phone was on a little platform on the treadmill, so I figured it was something to do with me, the motion of the belt, and the fact that my phone, and by extension, the headphones, were the conductors between me and the treadmill. My shoes would be shock-proof with the rubber soles. So I held the cord in my hand and I didn’t hear anything else in my right ear.
Today I decided to plug my headphones into the treadmill so I could hear the show I was watching. Sure enough, my left ear got a gentle taze a few minutes into the run, so I banished Lefty Earbud to brastrap land again. Not long after, the right one got revenge upon me for banishing her partner. Dadgum!
First world problem, right? I think I might have to resurrect my manky earbuds. At least they have some kind of magical powers that prevent the exercise equipment from trying to stun-gun me. I didn’t realize how poor their sound quality was until I got the new ones. It’s the difference between two cans with a string and a regular phone. Yeah, I know. That was a lame comparison. But you get it.
Manky, safe, underwater-cave-sounding pink earbuds vs. pristine, painful, perfect-sounding white earbuds
that nolen chick 
You are not alone! My ear buds have been shocking me while on the treadmill at my gym. I mentioned this to one of the trainers and she said she never heard of such a thing and told me to buy new ear buds. Maybe their machines are not properly grounded? I wish I knew what to do as I like watching TV while walking on the treadmill. I just bought another pair of ear buds to see if this will fix the problem.