I used to have scanner and actually gave it away, the thing was a hindrance.
I got fed up with buying batteries so i used rechargables and had a wall charger i carried around with me, it was a pound of stuff i didnt need. But the bigger reason was that listening distracted me from what was going on around me in the real world. Like perhaps you might hear yourself being reported to the bull over the scanner once a year but you'd be so distracted by the damn thing you wouldnt hear the cops or some gangbangers sneaking up behind you. Listen to it on the speaker and it blows your cover; listen to it over a headphone and one of your ears can no longer hear other things.
I know a ton of people who wish they had one but you really dont need one. Listening to "5 cars,3 cars, 2 cars, 1, 30 feet, that'll do" all day is hella annoying. If you're off at the store beering up you may know when to hurry back by hearing a clearance being issued or permission given, that's pretty much all it does for you. Lets you know when a train IS finally leaving but you can listen all day long and not know if a train sitting in front of you will leave in 20 minutes or tomorrow, it just wont be mentioned on the radio.