Up hill....BOTH WAYS!

As a high school teacher I found myself thinking the whole "when I was a kid things were different..." phrase many years earlier than I am probably supposed to.  I've only just turned thirty and I have friends that are still trendy and still listen to top 40 music so I shouldn't be so quick to put myself in such a distant category from my twelve-years-younger students.  But really, if there ever was a decade that dramatically separates generations it has to be this last one. Maybe every old geezer thinks the same way and maybe this is a totally unoriginal feeling (which is fine because that means you can relate!) but I strongly feel that since we partied like it was 1999 and it became the 2000's (Husband Bobby calls this past decade the "ots") kids in high school have become exposed to a drastically different life style than we had in the 90s, 80s, 70s, and so on. 

The introduction of cell phones to children has made this entire world a crazy place. I'm not being unnecessarily dramatic here.  I got my first cell phone when I was eighteen years old and a freshman in college. It was the year 2000 and suddenly cell phones were more than just the chunky car phone that chilled in the center console of Dad's car that beeped now and then to remind us of it's existence. Friends were moving away to school, we all had jobs (mostly) and we were technically adults, so the acquisition of  the cell phone made sense. 

But this blog is not about justifying why kids today are different... it's about how the world...country...everything.... is going completely  bonkers and I am sometimes struck by the seriousness of the situation that I wonder if I should move to Pennsylvania and become Amish.


Three nights ago Bo Hubs was suddenly interested in watching the news. I should mention that we never--NEVER--watch the news in this house unless it is sports or weather related and even then it's minimal. There was a few stories about local seriousness, a supposed shark attack, a severe thunderstorm watch, etc.  Then there was the story that inspired this rant.  "The Distracted Walker" story.  First we see a black and white video clip from a security camera that has recorded a man walking in a Boston underground T-station while looking intently at his phone (maybe playing Song Pop, I don't know) as he drifts towards the empty railroad and >kaboom< falls off the edge and onto the tracks five or so feet below. The anchor then goes on to report how dangerous "distracted walking" is becoming to Boston's citizens.  A guy on the street in the city then gets interviewed where he sheepishly admits that he, in fact, has walked distractedly before(!) and underneath his name is the subtitle: "distracted walker". Oh. The. Shame.

This is when I look at Bobby and ask if this is for real.

The very next news segment is a VERY important feature that discusses how to keep your technology safe at the beach.  We all know that the hot sun and the cruel sand can make it extremely difficult to keep your children and cell phones safe, so I was so relieved to see that they gave a bulleted list of tips on how to keep my phone out of harms way.  Bullet number one said that I should put my cell phone in a Ziploc baggie. No, no, let me back up a bit.  I should actually recreate the bulleted list for you so you can experience the same relief I did.

1. Put your technology in a sealed Ziploc bag
2. Make sure to put the technology in the bag at home
3. Do not take your technology out the entire time you are at the beach (in case that pesky sand should sneak its way inside)
4. Change your Ziploc baggy frequently, so you don't get sand inside your technology

You think I'm kidding.  Well THANK GOD somebody thought to tell me this. Are you saying that for the last twelve years I've been bringing my cell phone to the beach baggy free? And here I was thinking that plastic baggies were dangerous to sea life and so I usually leave them at home. The only problem is I don't think you can operate a touch screen through a plastic baggy and so we might all have to revert back to push buttons....just saying.

I was just thinking...there is a pretty big election coming up in about three months...right? I mean, there are some pretty serious issues going on in the world...right? Like, oh I don't know, unemployment, famine, corrupt governments, lack of women's rights in like half the world... but we in Massachusetts need to focus on the important things---like cell phone condoms. 

If for some reason I suddenly go missing check the Bible Belt. I'll be riding in the back of a horse drawn carriage, sewing patches on my own dress and shunning the creation of cell phones.


PROOF:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57483199/distracted-walking-injuries-quadruple-in-last-seven-years/