I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... I live in a city where it's "illegal" to drive and talk on the phone at the same time, and yet I can walk my usual 25 minutes to work and see at least a dozen drivers (if not a score) distracted as they travel. Now I have Oprah and the Glee kids telling me that I should consider the driving world a no-phone-zone and my cell provider AT&T telling me that "txting and drivng can wait". There is a certain sense of the macabre in being instructed to pull out my cell phone, view my last text and ask myself if it was worth dying over. [Performing this exercise today leaves me pondering the message "118 up here" as I last texted that to a co-worker at an event last night where we were collecting information from DePaul students. Maybe if the number were 300, then self-sacrifice might have been called for.]
I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a stand and ask to be trusted with my own abilities to process distractions (and, let's face it, with me, I'm more likely to be in a car accident from having swerved to avoid a small animal in the road than from texting contacts in my cell). I wish I could say that I'll sign that pledge, but that would mean I'd be relying on the full power of denial as perfected by generations of alcoholics. Just as is true when the subject turns to self-pleasuring, I'm afraid texting while driving is something we all do in the comfort of our own surroundings.
And to the young-uns out there -- do as I say and not as I do -- especially if you haven't done as much driving as I have in my life to date. [To be clear, I'm referring to NOT texting and driving and NOT referring to the act of self-pleasuring, although I could always discuss the epidemic of sexting for a different diatribe on another Saturday.]
AT&T CAMPAIGN:
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=2964
OPRAH'S EDICT:
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/End-Distracted-Driving
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