Let me just start by saying: when it is between a car and you, the car always wins. I tell this to J all the time now that she has a cell phone (somewhat) at her disposal (still under my watchful eye, of course). In this era of the device, I think that unknowingly, people who walk, run, or jog on streets with cars (vs. using the sidewalk—why wouldn’t you just walk on the sidewalk?), people who stare at their phone while walking in parking lots, crossing streets, or, frankly just walking anywhere, and (I hate to say it because we are supposed to “share” the road), bicyclists on the road among cars, are the bravest people I know. Maybe more like sitting ducks. And I am not one of them.
Why brave? Because everyone is on their cell phone, you just have to assume that. Regardless of the warnings to not text and drive, if I were walking on the side of the road, I would *presume* the oncoming car on my tail has a driver scrolling through an Instagram page and could easily veer off the road. And there I am walking, me vs. the car. Like I said, they win. Game over.
I say this because it drives me crazy seeing how careless people are and how quickly they could be dust. Think about that guy on a skateboard or motorized scooters with ear buds weaving through in traffic (I’ve see this), riding bikes with ear buds. These people are straight up legit on a suicide mission. But so are kids walking through parking lots, staring at their phone with—or without—earbuds.
Today I driving back after dropping J off at school and I get to a light. There in front of me is a young girl, say, 12 to 14 years old I’d guess, walking alone across the street, staring at her phone and then the light turns green. Obviously she started crossing the street late. Cars are sitting there beginning to take their foot off the brake and there she is oblivious, walking in front of a green light, while staring at her phone.
My first reaction was to yell at her to watch where she was going, to put her phone away and to never use her phone while crossing the street! I started to roll down my window but she walked too far away from me though to make sense of what I would have said. She was still not on the other side of the street as I drove away with cars behind me. But then I thought, instead I should just ask for her mom’s cell phone number and then pull over to let Mom know what her daughter just did. Oh my God! The light was green, she was walking in the street falling into her phone! She was already putting herself in danger by walking across a street when she was not supposed to. And she added yet another danger factor with the phone oblivious of the extremely dangerous situation she placed herself in to watch—I bet—a TikTok.
Parents: ding ding, this is a whole other danger aside from the obvious ones on the internet that we are all managing, watching over, with are kids, right? Are you talking to your children about not using them in parking lots and crossing streets and just plain old walking? Another day, I saw a little girl texting and she walked right over a Home Depot cart that was in her path and in an unusual spot, I agree, but that is why we LOOK WHERE WE ARE GOING INSTEAD OF OUR PHONES. She toppled over, not too hurt, but the fact is she was oblivious to her surroundings. Had she been looking she would have easily seen the cart and gone around it and not have a scab on her knee.
I am hoping she learned her lesson.
—SMB
Single Busy Mommy 