It may be hard to tell what's going on in this screenshot from a hair-raising video but this is one dense but lucky kid. This car nearly plowed into him going at least 45mph. The kid had just gotten off the bus and was looking at his phone, totally obvious to the car headed straight for him.
You can see the puffs of smoke as the tires are barking from the car being slammed hard to the left and off the road. If the driver didn't have excellent reflexes that kid would've been playing the harp that evening. Another 12" and this video wouldn't be able to be shown. It was that close.
Nothing much surprises me these days, although plummeting off a cliff to your "unalivement" or walking into traffic while playing Pokémon Go is a bit extreme. I wonder what the stats are on that...I know it's a fair amount. One's too many. Really it's just another form of population control I guess, like fent and tranq and stuff like that.
There's a thing called "situational awareness." It means what it says- being aware of what's going on around you. It's a vestigal thing...back when we were still monkeys, situational awareness was a matter of survival. I guess if they'd had cellphones back then, a lot more sabertooth tigers would've gotten dinner.
Even though we're no longer monkeys, it could still save your life today. Muggers are pretty smart about picking out people to mug. They observe before they mug. Which person do you think they'd choose- one who's paying attention to their surroundings, or someone who's totally distracted by talking on their phone?
While most people thankfully won't walk out into traffic or walk off a cliff because they're staring at their phone, most people are addicted to them. Some years back I did an informal survey where I asked people what would happen if they lost their phone. Just thinking about it made them visibly distraught and uncomfortable. The look on their faces said it all.
For about the first six months or so after I got my first cellphone I kept it in my pocket like most people do, until I saw images like this, as well as ones taken below the belt, that showed what happens to the body after a 15-minute phone call. No thanks. I bet I'm the only person in America who doesn't have phantom vibration syndrome. I don't keep my phone in my pocket.
Remember when they first came out and people were complaining about rude assholes talking on their cellphones in restaurants and movie theaters? It was about as inconsiderate as it gets.
I was at a nice dinner party one evening when some clown's phone beeped. Rather than turn it off and wait until dinner was over, he got up from the table to go plug it in. Couldn't it wait? I told myself right then and there I'd never let my phone tell me what to do.
They actually have detox programs for cellphone addiction. Really. Try taking a phone away from a teenager and see what happens. I'd be willing to bet your phone remembers more phone numbers than you. Even when people are placed in handcuffs they almost universally ask for their phones, which is crazy, considering they can't use them while they're cuffed.
Well, this is funny. As I'm writing this a notification popped up for a YouTube video titled "We Need to Put Down our Phones and Get Prepared." That's funny, and true, and timing is everything.
One of the saddest things I've ever seen was one day when I was at Lakeshore Rehab with a friend who was recovering from an injury. We'd shoot hoops and walk laps and such. There was a guy in a wheelchair whose buddies wanted to take him to the Cahaba River, where they could wheel him right up to the water. He could've enjoyed Nature but instead he wanted to play games on his phone. I wanted to cry.
I won't let my phone tell me when to charge it and I'll be damned if I'll let it make me fall off a cliff, but hey, to each his own. If what's on your phone is more important than what's going on around you then be my guest. The cliff is thataway, and population control's a bitch. Watch out beloooooooooooooooooooooooow!
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