Silly question regarding cingular ear bud headset

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Ok, I plugged in my headset to the phone and when I took it out one of the plastic prongs was stuck in the phone connector. I pulled that out and noticed that it didn't actually break, but just pulled out. Then I noticed that it doesn't really go back in. The other plastic prong is still attached to the ear bud. These prongs are extremely cheap and I'm thinking that I'm supposed to pull them off before using the phone....maybe they are just on there for shipping purposes??? But I really have no idea. They literally lasted 1 day...so i'm thinking I'm supposed to pull them off. Anyone know for sure? P.S. I'm feeling really stupid here. The package doesn't say anything about it.