Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A mom who had just picked up her toddler from the daycare across the street was texting as she pulled out in front of a motorcyclist on our busy road. When he hit, his body.....
What a horrible thing to happen. And it was an avoidable tragedy.
I'd guess the woman thought whatever she was texting was important. Or fun. Or necessary. That man is dead forever. And she has to live knowing that she caused it. And that her child was with her when it happened.
And you have it burned into your brain. Thanks for sharing what happened. The moral of the story is most of us will help someone. But very often helping someone is not being so selfish ("having" to use your phone or text) that you put your own needs first and cause horrible harm to someone else as a result. Hopefully people will learn from this gosh-awful event.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 11-11-2012 at 03:16 PM..
What a horrible thing to happen. And it was an avoidable tragedy.
I'd guess the woman thought whatever she was texting was important. Or fun. Or necessary. That man is dead forever. And she has to live knowing that she caused it. And that her child was with her when it happened.
And you have it burned into your brain. Thanks for sharing what happened. The moral of the story is most of us will help someone. But very often helping someone is not being so selfish ("having" to use your phone or text) that you put your own needs first and cause horrible harm to someone else as a result. Hopefully people will learn from this gosh-awful event.
(I'll add this and then drop it. I don't want to hi-jack the thread.)
I'm glad that you said what you did about helping. Our immediate response was to help. Several people from across the street were also there immediately. The daycare workers took care of the child right away, so I don't think he saw the man. Helping her through the anguish that we all shared was gut-wrenching. Trying to comfort her when she started to realize that she had hit the man and he wasn't moving...I don't have the words to describe it. But it would have been inhuman not to try to calm her and give her a blanket while she waited for the ambulance, so we lied to her and told her that the man was going to be okay. I have to hope that she learned. We never found out if she was eventually charged with manslaughter, because I can think of no other word for a death caused by such callous negligeance.
There were no winners in this story. And by chance, we were the unfortunate bystanders. We had no choice about what happened that day, but we did have a choice about our response. We chose to act as our brother's keeper that day. I'm glad we did.
Reading through the responses on this thread really makes me wonder if people do ask themselves is the call I am answering or the text I am sending really so urgent/necessary/life-threatening that I must handle it immediately? My guess is that 99 times out of 100 it really isn't. IMO, there is something to be said for patience, for tolerating waiting, and for focusing on what one is doing in the moment.
If I can add another suggestion - don't call or text people if you KNOW they are driving. I have been on my way to meet friends and several of them text me the whole time. If I don't answer the first one they will send another. They KNOW I'm driving to meet them. How is someone supposed to read and answer a text that says 'are you close?' WHILE they are driving?
I think that when a parent is out with their kids, they should certainly be watching them. However, not everyone who is glued to their phones is necessarily frittering away their time. My spouse is required to be within a phone call or email away from work events since he is in a critical IT position. He often times gets work related email alerts and needs to respond. Just a fact of his employment. A few times he has gotten frowns from some soccer parents when he is responding to an email on his Blackberry or taking a phone call. Such is life and means to keeping employed.
With that said, both of us aren't really super glued to our cell phones. I will text occasionally but not all that often. I certainly won't do any of that while driving. I'm on the older side though and often forget to charge my cell phone or leave it in the car, lol.
I think that when a parent is out with their kids, they should certainly be watching them. However, not everyone who is glued to their phones is necessarily frittering away their time. My spouse is required to be within a phone call or email away from work events since he is in a critical IT position. He often times gets work related email alerts and needs to respond. Just a fact of his employment. A few times he has gotten frowns from some soccer parents when he is responding to an email on his Blackberry or taking a phone call. Such is life and means to keeping employed.
With that said, both of us aren't really super glued to our cell phones. I will text occasionally but not all that often. I certainly won't do any of that while driving. I'm on the older side though and often forget to charge my cell phone or leave it in the car, lol.
I can appreciate an employment situation that requires phone access. I was on call 24/7 for 5 years for my chronically suicidal clients. If my phone rang, it frequently was life or death related. IMO, there is a big difference between someone excusing themselves or pulling the car over to deal with a work emergency and someone who is consistently distracted for other reasons. Definitely good to keep in mind that not everyone using an electronic device is in the second group, and it is difficult to tell from just a short snippet of observation, but I am somehow skeptical that with the number of people buried in their phones they all have critical work positions that require them to be so.
I've seen a lot of ignorant things on this thread.
People treat cell phones like they are the end all, be all, the must have, most important thing that the human eye has ever seen and will ever see. Honestly, put the cell phones down. We have bigger fish to fry, than an unimportant text message.
It really bugs me that people like to walk all extra slow in the middle of a busy street, reading their text message, like others have no place to go. PUT IT DOWN.
There is just no excuse why parents should be more concerned with their cell phones over their children. Especially the little children. We've come to an age, where we ALL find it important to have some type of technology in the way of what is more important.
I wants thought that it was only the teeangers who were obsessed with cell phones, but it's teens, adults, and even little children who I see on the bus, preoccupied with the phone and not paying attention to their surroundings.
I'm not saying we should stop using it all together, because cell phones can be really beneficial, but we to learn that there is a time and a place for everything.
I think that when a parent is out with their kids, they should certainly be watching them. However, not everyone who is glued to their phones is necessarily frittering away their time. My spouse is required to be within a phone call or email away from work events since he is in a critical IT position. He often times gets work related email alerts and needs to respond. Just a fact of his employment. A few times he has gotten frowns from some soccer parents when he is responding to an email on his Blackberry or taking a phone call. Such is life and means to keeping employed.
With that said, both of us aren't really super glued to our cell phones. I will text occasionally but not all that often. I certainly won't do any of that while driving. I'm on the older side though and often forget to charge my cell phone or leave it in the car, lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eastwesteastagain
I can appreciate an employment situation that requires phone access. I was on call 24/7 for 5 years for my chronically suicidal clients. If my phone rang, it frequently was life or death related. IMO, there is a big difference between someone excusing themselves or pulling the car over to deal with a work emergency and someone who is consistently distracted for other reasons. Definitely good to keep in mind that not everyone using an electronic device is in the second group, and it is difficult to tell from just a short snippet of observation, but I am somehow skeptical that with the number of people buried in their phones they all have critical work positions that require them to be so.
I would venture to guess that many of those calls are probably work related. It's not just for critical work positions anymore. In this day and age, there are many jobs that require near constant connectivity. It says a lot (most of it not good) about our priorities in our culture.
I would venture to guess that many of those calls are probably work related. It's not just for critical work positions anymore. In this day and age, there are many jobs that require near constant connectivity. It says a lot (most of it not good) about our priorities in our culture.
Meh. I am still skeptical, although I agree about the priorities. I guess my point is that even if it is work-related, the onus is on the worker to figure out how to do their on call without it inconveniencing other people, or endangering other people, or keeping them from other responsibilities that they have (like watching their children).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
