It never ceases to amaze me just how many people look downwards staring at their phones! Sure, I have my phone with me to listen to Survivor podcasts, plus, well, for safety reasons, but I don't understand this compulsive behavior to stare down during your entire walking commute.
Here are 3 Major Reasons not to Text and Walk
1. It is Dangerous. I give training on Safety all the time. It is part of my job responsibilities to inform employees about the hazards that they may encounter will working at the university. I can always get a laugh when I talk about students texting and walking and running into stuff. Why do I use this example? Because texting and walking is dangerous! ESPECIALLY when you are walking adjacent to a busy road with crazy drivers!
2. It is Rude. One of the things that bugs me is how rude looking down at your phone can be. We all know its rude to be staring down at your phone while someone is trying to talk to you, but its also rude when you aren't talking at all. When you walk around in a public place, you will probably interact with people, even if its not on an audible level.
interact. verb. act in such a way as to have an effect on another, act reciprocally.
If you think that hogging sidewalk (and forcing me to dodge out of your way because you've got your eyes glued to your phone) isn't interacting, you're wrong...
3. It is Inattentive. For me, this is huge. My brain is wired to pay attention to detail. It's why I'm good at my job. It's why I like to create things. It's why I remember really really weird things. If you pay attention, there are so many things to take in!
I've mentioned before in a previous post about how random people ask me for directions all the time. As I mention in that post, it could be because I have a friendly face. OR it could be because I'm the only human around who is not looking down at their phone! I look present and approachable.
Several months ago, I watched a webinar about texting and driving. Texting and Driving has turned in to a huge problem in America, and I'm not going to get into all of my ideas about that, but I wanted to mention something that this webinar pointed out. "Distracted Driving" has existed since the Model T. In the past, distracted driving was eating your Chic-fil-a sandwich, or changing your Hanson CD, or putting your baby's pacifier back in her mouth. Normally when you are distracted, you are being distracted via one body part (i.e. your eyes, your brain, or your hands). Texting is a whole new "genre" of distracted.You are literally forced to use your eyes, your brain and your hands to successfully text.Texting takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, and your thoughts off of your main task. [Side note: I was looking for the percentage of your brain that is used while texting and I stumbled on this awesome website about texting and driving.]
I'm not anti-texting and I'm not anti-technology (obviously), but it's just not a good idea to try and successfully do anything with only part of your brain, even if it's something you learned at the age of one! Texting and walking is a bad idea. It's dangerous. It's rude. It's Inattentive. Just don't do it.
