Thanks to a three-word suggestion from “Meq”–”try re-setting it”–my iPod disaster was averted. I poked my head into a co-worker’s office, asked if he knew anything about resetting iPods, and he did. Moments later, my iPod was no longer shuffling through songs like J-Lo trying on shoes.
Thus re-enabled, I was able to blissfully, mercifully tune out all fellow commuters on the 5:46 home.