I read a report from Reuters today that really made me think. As a result of this thinking, this frank thinking if you will, I realized that while I am angered by what I read I better make sure that my side of the street is cleaned up before I start ranting and raving.
The article depicts the attitude of a teenage girl about texting while driving despite it being illegal in Phoenix where she lives. This quote from the article will give you the general idea of how seriously she takes the safety of others over her own needs to not be bored.
Karen Cordova, a 17-year-old high school student and part-time supermarket cashier, admits she sometimes texts friends while driving home from work late at night, lonely and bored.
The Arizona teenager knows it’s illegal in Phoenix and dangerous. She once almost drifted into oncoming traffic while looking at her phone.
But would a nationwide ban stop Cordova and her friends from texting in their cars? No way, she said.
“Nobody is going to listen,” Cordova said.
At first I shifted into ‘self-righteous’ mode and wanted to rail against this blatant disregard for human life. I guess this hits a little closer to home as my local community struggles through seeing a good man almost killed and likely given lifelong disabilities at best by someone drifting into another lane. While there is no indication that texting was involved, the result of the crash is horrific and stands as an example of what can happen when a young girl’s flippant attitude toward other’s safety is played out.
After a brief step back moment though, I realized that while I don’t do it often I have done the same thing. In fact, I have drifted while driving due to my own phone powered / social media / constant need of contact actions. So while I am ready to point the finger at anyone else who shows this disregard for the safety of others I better be able to handle my own poor habits first. Remember the old adage: When you point your finger cuz your plan fell through, you got three more fingers pointin’ back at you (hat tip to Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits).
I’m not going to preach here but I do implore you to consider just how critical that text or tweet or Facebook status update is before you decide to put yourself and others at risk on the road.
Will this post do anything to change minds or at least make people think? I don’t know. Actually, probably not but that’s not the point. The point is that you have been made aware and if you make the choice from now on to feed you social media habit while behind the wheel then I hope that when that plan falls through you only take your own life and not another’s.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Amen Frank, we have become such a society of self involved, overindulgent, “it won’t happen to me” people that we (myself included) hardly ever think about “the other guy”. Are our oppinions so important and our need to say what we have to say so critical that it is worth putting ourselves or anyone else at risk? I got news for ya; if your oppinion really is that important or what you have to say that ground shaking then it most certainly can wait until you are not behind the wheel of a 1500 pound vehicle traveling at 70 miles an hour. If the value of our oppinion has such a short shelf life that it won’t last until we are sitting at home on our couches or at our desks well then it probably wasn’t that important in the first place.
I admit I have done it too and self righteously get angered when I watch someone else do it on the road, or have to avoid their drifting near me on LA freeways. I have made the effort to seriously curtail it, and yes, have even pulled over to respond to those emails I deem important at that time. Everyone should try pulling over even if it seems like you don’t have time..by the way, by you not texting while driving, you can be more alert to avoid others who are!
Social media allows us to discover, connect, and engage with new people of interest. While most people are open to new connections and receiving messages from people they don’t know, there is a fine line between reaching out and spamming. The challenge is to make a connection clearly and effectively without wasting people’s time.Many of us are on both sides of this relationship-sometimes making the connection, sometimes receiving the invitation.