Yesterday I was talking with a colleague about the all too common stupid habit of people walking while looking at their phones. This is a piece of idiocracy that extends across the generations, including to those who were actually brought up before the existence of mobile phones that were taught as children to look where they were going. A few years ago everyone was worried that mobile phones might cause tumours, when in fact the real danger was that they seem to make you stupid. My colleague had had a woman looking at her phone and carrying a coffee walk into him. He had stopped when he saw her but was unable to move out of the way due to a wall on one side and a flow of pedestrians on the other. She had walked into him, spilt the coffee down herself and then acted like it was his fault.
In my book I have talked about the necessity of keeping aware of your surroundings as a component of personal safety. I have known people who have been assaulted and robbed because they were too busy talking or looking on their phones. As for driving while using your phone and texting, this is way too common and the courts really need to impose harsher sentences.
I came across this video today so I thought I would share it on the blog. Phones are a useful tool, but like any tool, use them wisely and pay a little more attention to the world around you. You may just avoid missing something nice.
The Books
