Some say the world will end with fire
And some with ice….
(Robert Frost)
I say with cell phone use.
One of these days, we’ll all crash into each other and the world will end. When a future civilization sifts through our ashes, they’ll find a strange phenomenon: All the people of the earth died with their fingers on these strange devices with tiny little letters and numbers on them. These future researchers will conclude that 21st century civilization collapsed in one giant crash, from TEXT MESSAGING!
We’re killing each other off at an alarming rate:
Text messaging by train crews blamed for current CA Metrolink crash - 25 people died
Teenagers in particular are vulnerable to death-by-texting:
Text messaging may be factor in fatal teen vehicle crash
Even Baby Boomers are not immune. What in the world could that couple in the photo find so fascinating in a text message?
- Did they win the lottery? Is Ed McMahon texting them that he’s at their door?
- Did their kids announce they were millionaires so mother and father could retire and purchase that RV?
For ultimate blame, I’ve to go to Osama bin Laden and September 11, 2001. Before that, cell phone use was a world-wide phenomenon, but it had not absolutely taken over, and text messaging wasn’t ubiquitous. Now, we’re all in contact all day long and we are texting like crazy , including while driving.
I’m not exaggerating: A current study by Nationwide Insurance concluded that 20 percent of drivers are texting while driving. Next time you’re on the interstate look around - one in five of the drivers around you is TEXTING!
Many states are considering legislation banning texting-while-driving, but how do the police stop them? Cameras everywhere (scary “big brother” thought)? It’s only after the accident that the culprit is determined.
The college where I work has a terrible problem - texting in class. A not-surprising study: teens spend as much time texting as speaking. As if teens weren’t killing themselves fast enough by drinking and driving, now they’re adding texting to the deadly mix.
Have we had enough? Legislation in all says banning texting while driving is long overdue. But we need to stop our teens from texting - take the blasted things away from them! Who is paying for these cell phones, parents?
Ok, that’s my rant for this week - I feel better now. Until the next news story about someone who died or killed someone while texting.
Photo credit: PicApp
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