Why is it that, when I run into someone I know who is deaf while I am at the gym or out walking or whatever, I have to stop my iPod to have a conversation, but I work I can be on the phone having a spoken conversation with one person while having a second one, in sign, at the same time. It seems that the latter should be more difficult given that I have to actively pay attention to two things at once, yet I find the “background noise” of the iPod more distracting.