Steal this column -- then listen to it

During a weekend back home this time last year, a group of what I like to call Evanston street thugs burglarized my small Japanese economy sedan. The aftermath of the heist, although not terribly severe, was upsetting to say the least. The crooks got away with a handful of change from my ashtray, helped themselves to the $40 VCR in my trunk and even indulged in a pack of Orbitz Winterfresh gum. The horror. While the losses were minimal and no damage was done to the car (thankfully the radio was left untouched), it was what the thieves decided not to take that really angered me. Consider this column an open letter to the culprits: \nAs a music junkie who generally refuses to listen to the radio, my car is usually filled with heaps of CDs. On the evening of what I like to call the "Sentra assault of 2004" the most valuable item in my car was in fact my music. Now, before going on, I must add that the crooks did manage to run off with two of my Roots albums and the soundtrack to the film appropriately titled "Baadasssss," but overall they seemed to browse my collection instead of just taking the lot. \nIs my taste in music really that bad? Did the crooks have a moral hatred against bands like Radiohead or Ben Harper? Were they not familiar with the musical styling of Rufus Wainwright or Bob Dylan? All these questions crossed my mind as I surveyed the damage the morning after. \nThe fact is these hooligans suffer from what I like to call musical exclusivity. They could have easily sold any of the discs in my car but instead decided to only take what they fancied at the time. My question to them, and the purpose of this column, is to ask why people close themselves off from different styles of music? Why do we stick to niche genres instead of exploring the diverse world of music? Why didn't the bandits try out a little British rock by lifting my Radiohead collection? The answer, I believe, is they judged the disc by its cover, so to speak.\nNow don't get me wrong. I do understand how easy it is for people to judge things before trying them. Trying things that are different or unfamiliar takes a lot of courage, and some people like the comfort of what is familiar to them. After all, we listen to music because it makes us happy, enabling us to escape from our surroundings, if not only for three to four minutes. This said, I do believe that sometimes the musical comfort levels we create can make us forget about other styles available. \nI will say right away that I am by no means completely innocent of being close-minded; however, since coming to college, I have tried to expand my horizons when it comes to everything, including my tastes in music. Before coming to IU, I wouldn't touch a rap CD unless Lauryn Hill was on the cover, but after a friend freshman year played some Notorious B.I.G. and later exposed me to the 36 Chambers of the Wu Tang Clan, I found myself filling my iPod with all sorts of rap and hip-hop music just waiting to be discovered.\nThe same thing happened more recently with a friend from California, who, after telling me he listened exclusively to metal bands, caught my attention and ended up giving me a crash course in the music he loved. Flash forward a couple of months, and you can sometimes find me rocking out to songs like Pantera's "Domination" (much to my roommate's dismay) while doing trivial things like folding my laundry or doing my ethics homework. \nIn my opinion, we are extremely fortunate to live in a world with such musical diversity. I like that over the years I went from being the kid who used to bug my parents with nothing but alternative and grunge rock, only dabbling slightly in anything considered "classic," to an avid fan of jazz, classical, blues, hip hop, techno, you name it. \nIt isn't my intention to throw my musical tastes on anyone, even though sometimes I want to. After all, a band like Pantera or an artist like Frank Zappa (someone I have just recently started to delve into) isn't going to be for everyone; however, I think it's important to at least try new things and explore what the world has to offer. So, to the culprits who ransacked my automobile: if you still spend your autumn evenings breaking into cars, don't be so selective with what you lift. Try expanding your musical tastes. You might be surprised of what you find.