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05/13/2008: "It's True"
I'm on something of a fitness kick right now, trying to whip an old body into shape to impress young girls. As part of the no doubt pointless effort, I walk twice a week along the beach - once in Hermosa, and once in Redondo.
Tonight, it was time to walk the Esplanade in Redondo. Like most folks, I have my iPod going, arms pumping for extra effort, striding forth towards fitness. Ahead of me, I see a guy who clearly has a different agenda. Head down, feet shuffling, he's in the classic posture - text messaging. As I close on him from behind, I'm reminded of an article I read a couple of weeks back that talked about the upturn in accidents resulting from people walking into solid objects while texting. At the time, I thought you'd have to be as dumb as a bag of hammers to have that happen.
But as I watch my friend approach an intersection, oblivious of his surroundings, I suddenly realize I'm about to see this study play out before me. Sure enough, as he nears the crosswalk, he walks unabated into the pole holding the stoplight.
WHUMP!!
He falls back, glasses going one way, phone the other. It was as if he'd been woken up from sleepwalking - he seemed to not realize where he was, although I suppose you could attribute that to the shock of the impact. As dumb as I thought you'd have to be, here he was in the flesh. Amazing ...
As a certified Crackberry addict, I too am at risk of such behavior. Fortunately, most of the folks I know wouldn't know a text message if it bit them in the ass, and the one person I usually text with is currently too pissed at me to talk. One bright side to an otherwise dark episode, I guess ...
