How would you as an observer tell if somebody is using their AirPods to listen to music or whether they're just in their ears for noise cancellation and thus "look ridiculous"?
totally understandable as the "right to be left alone" or privacy is essential but undeniably curtailed when in public.
i hope you can appreciate the collective imperative here and acknowledge that it would be super fucked up if everyone would be wearing headphones in public.
it's just fucking with social interaction; maybe that's the point