Stop before you start

It starts when you take a job loading trucks at UPS in the morning to keep bread on the family's table and the guy (kid?) a couple trucks down tunes the radio into the local Top 40 station. At first you find yourself gravely concerned about how far "music" has fallen and wondering if Akon and Sean Kingston are the same person (and thinking the two of them added together might equal the same musical talent of an average karaoke singer).

After awhile the lack of creativity and quality doesn't bother you so much. I mean, it's better than working without any music at all, plus the beats are kind of catchy.

Next thing you know you're doing dishes in the kitchen and you're singing along with Kanye's latest hit and calling your wife "Shorty" when she comes over to help you dry. You know you've hit rock bottom when she picks up a plate and you tell her to drop it like it's hot, at which point those who really love you sit you down for a loving "intervention."

From that point on you join an accountability group that asks you if you listened to any FM radio that week, and you install a program that checks your internet and iTunes traffic on your computer. Sure, it's a long road back, but the alternative is a life of misery and musical disappointment… with Soulja Boy as the soundtrack.