« 472 Miles to Cleveland | Home | 2008 TLT Gift Guide (Recession Edition) »
Pay Attention and Play Nice
December 11th, 2008 | Stephen Bailey
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
They are lessons we were (or should have been) taught as children. Say please and thank you. Pay attention when people talk to you. And so on. These were meant simply to assure we grow up to be sweet, polite young adults. But in this age of ever-immersive personal technology, they can actually prove to save your life.
First: Pay Attention!
I've watched people get hit by cars because they were engrossed in a conversation on their phone. Others trip on pulled luggage because they were too busy typing a text message to notice. Not to mention the comically annoying people with blaring headphones getting angry while waiting for the doors to open on a train. Meanwhile, an announcement was made that the train in question was out of service.
As for those getting hit by cars, trucks and even trains, recent safety studies have shown that cellphone usage has helped to increase pedestrian casualties in just the past year. This is thanks in part to the fact that phones like the Blackberry or iPhone are more mini-computers and entertainment centers.
And I'm sorry, hands-free devices do not make a difference. The problem lies in our brains, not our hands. Humans are very good at doing one thing at a time. No matter how efficient a multitasker you think you are … you're really not.
Second: Play Nice!
I grew up in the NYC area so I'm used to the patented New York rudeness. This guy shoves you outta the way. That woman lets the door slam in your face. And so on. You yell a profanity or two, lift a middle finger and move on. None of it is new.
However, Devin and I were recently discussing how the rudeness and anger of New Yorkers seemed to be increasing of late. My thought was that New Yorkers really hadn't gotten any ruder over the years. Still, there was that extra anger. And that's when it struck me … complacency was to blame.
The rudeness has now been compounded by a new and inflated complacency thanks to so many people living snug inside an electronic bubble. On the phone, listening to music, watching a video, playing a game or whatever. This complacency works to detach the individual from reality as it goes about life like no one else is around. That is until the inevitable collision.
Then the fighting, the yelling and the overall increased anger ensues because how dare someone invade someone else's personal space. But this is not personal space out here. This is public space that we are being invited to exist in with others. Just because a person immersed in some distraction that ten years ago was only possible in their home, it does not mean they're actually in their home.
And therein lies the problem.
So back to the original, homespun lessons of pay attention and play nice. You'll live a happier life and maybe meet some nice people along the way. You'll probably a longer life as well, considering you'll see those collisions coming.
Corny? Idealistic? Maybe, but worth a try.
Related Topics: cellphones, Music, nyc, travel
 TLT on FacebookBecome a fan and keep up to date with our shenanigans! |
Stephen Bailey | 1 Comment »
Pay Attention and Play Nice
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
December 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
The problem seems to be ubiquitous. Good observation and definitely one to pass on.