I am such a jerk

After work today I met an American friend to deliver something to her. We were standing on the sidewalk talking. Well, I was talking and she was patiently listening to me vent about why I was frustrated with the hotel today (that could be a post all its own). So we're chatting and this very cute elderly man approaches us and asks where we're from, what we're doing in the city, how long we've been here...all the usual questions. He has one headphone in with a wire reaching to his shirt pocket. I'm thinking...what a trendy little guy walking around town listening to an mp3 player. So I ask him, "Sir, what music are you listening to?" This is where it becomes one of those moments where you want to reverse time and take back the words that just fell out of your mouth. "This thing," he asks? This is my hearing aid." I already feel bad but it gets worse...."I lost my hearing in the Cultural Revolution and suffered a lot of other injuries to my body as well." Now I realize that I am indeed the most insensitive person on the face of the planet. He takes it out, shows it to us and tells us how it works. And also tells us how China had to go through such a hard time in history to be able to develop to where it is today. Then he put it back in his pocket, thanked us for talking with him and went on his way. He didn't seem offended, but I felt like an idiot. I mean, what 77 year old Chinese man walks around with an mp3 player? It was a lesson in thinking before I speak and it had the added bonus of learning a little more about China's history and the nice gentleman.