A MATTER OF OPINION #2

I know. I know. I’m supposed to be “looking ahead.” That means I don’t spend time being an old fogy who knows that the current generation is going to hell in a hand-held device. Looking ahead means I should be current, savvy, cool, and ready to “get with it.” (Do they still use that expression?)

But, under the heading “a matter of opinion,” I pontificate from the height of age and experience, not to mention anger, impatience. And intolerance of almost everything I see around me. But I can’t resist.

Today, again, I saw a 20-something so ear-glued to her (it could equally apply to a “he”) that she was oblivious of everything around her. Sort of spaced out on meaningless chatter. The devotion to high tech communication is not what bothers me; it is that she crossed a road without looking, solidly encased in her cell phone conversation.

What bothers me most is the question: do any of these self-absorbed people ever, ever, ever read the news or watch it on TV? Are any of them mindful of the danger of being pre-occupied? Did any of them, read or hear the tragic story of a young woman who was killed by a truck – a truck she ran into because she was crossing the road talking on her cellphone and oblivious to everything around her?

Lately there have been more and more stories about preoccupation. You’re so busy doing something you don’t see what’s going on around you. That’s not just lack of concentration, that’s oblivion. A day does not go by that I see someone walking through an intersection totally comatose on a cell phone. I know that the pedestrian has the right of way, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to look both ways – I’d settle for looking one way. I won’t settle for no looking.

The question is of course, if the Province joins the growing number of jurisdictions who have laws against driving while on the phone, would there also be a law about jay-walking while on the phone?

It would be too easy to simply sigh and say something like: “The young think they are bulletproof and immortal.” Which is why crossing the road talking on a phone can be just as dangerous as the new fad of “car surfing,” which is a suicidal way to get on You Tube. If you missed all the stories about that kind of surfing” wake up!