The phone ban has had an impact on seemingly everyone at West Springfield High School…except one man. Senior Jack Dowdy, the “boombox kid,” possesses an older piece of equipment that allows him to listen to his music even in this no-phone world.
“This is Earthshaker,” said Dowdy, patting the side of the silver boombox sat next to him. “I bought him around midsummer. I had another one last year, a small black one, which I named Sheila.”
Dowdy’s passion for boomboxes is not new. In fact, the seedling of interest was planted years ago.
“I liked boomboxes when I was a kid, but it all changed when I watched the movie ‘Do The Right Thing.’ It features this ginormous boombox called the J1 Super Jumbo Promax. I saw that thing and thought, ‘That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, I need to get one like that.’ From that day on, I decided my thing was boomboxes. I started researching them and picking out my favorite ones,” said Dowdy.
The phone ban has had an impact on seemingly everyone at West Springfield High School…except one man. Senior Jack Dowdy, the “boombox kid,” possesses an older piece of equipment that allows him to listen to his music even in this no-phone world.
“This is Earthshaker,” said Dowdy, patting the side of the silver boombox sat next to him. “I bought him around midsummer. I had another one last year, a small black one, which I named Sheila.”
Dowdy’s passion for boomboxes is not new. In fact, the seedling of interest was planted years ago.
“I liked boomboxes when I was a kid, but it all changed when I watched the movie ‘Do The Right Thing.’ It features this ginormous boombox called the J1 Super Jumbo Promax. I saw that thing and thought, ‘That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, I need to get one like that.’ From that day on, I decided my thing was boomboxes. I started researching them and picking out my favorite ones,” said Dowdy.
listen to my computer around there. It’s mostly during hallway times that I listen to it.”
Many students at WSHS know Dowdy because of his boombox, but he doesn’t mind that this is his persona within the student body.
“I would say boomboxes have become a large part of who I am,” said Dowdy. “Nobody else at the school does this. If somebody else did it, I’m not sure how I would feel. On one hand, I’d think ‘oh, cool, we have more of me.’ On the other hand, I’d think ‘hey, that’s my thing.’”
