Daily Mood Quote
Day 143 – September 23, 2011
The truth ... is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution.
~ J. K. Rowling, The Sorcerer's Stone
I heard an interesting statistic this morning. Now, understand something, I don't put a lot of stock, or faith in statistics. There is an old adage, “Statistics lie and liars use statistics.” Even if the numbers are accurate, the interpretation of those numbers is most often subject to multiple points of view. Two equally matched scientists, equally matched theologians, or two equally matched sports fans, could look at the same data and have completely different points of view about what it means. That said, the statistic I heard on a morning radio program still gave me pause. The number was 2.5 billion and the issue was daily texts in the United States. So, I did some quick math of my own and: if we are a nation of 300 million, then that means that there were 8.33 texts per day for every man, woman and child in the country. Now I'm careful of averages, because they only tell a little bit of the picture. As W.I.E. Gates said, “Then there is the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.” Still, that seems like a lot of communication, so I have to wonder what is being said and why folks think it is so important? Perhaps, it's better not to know...
Anyway, here's how I see that number (2.5 billion). Lots of people, mostly teens through late twenties, who no longer have the benefit of face to face conversation after school or work hours. Lets face it, its a scary world out there for kids and after the teen years, folks are buried in “urgent” work and life issues like video games and DVR movies.
I have to wonder, how many of these texts happen while driving? There are laws against texting and driving in several states, including mine... that doesn't seem to even slow people down. Just yesterday, there sat a young man in the car next to us, wobbling through traffic, cell phone in both hands, texting along. His eyes were on the phone, not the road and his mind obviously elsewhere. So gee whizz, what's more important than careful driving? They won't let me drive, yet fools like this abound on the roads. So, when I heard 2.5 billion texts a day, my concern was; are people texting at work, perhaps in dangerous situations like rail yards, airports, and/or on the roads? What is their response when something happens, or goes wrong????...
It reminds me of the movie Unstoppable, a runaway train story with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.
Connie (played by Rossario Dawson) said, “How the hell did this happen?'
Dewey (Ethan Suplee): “It just got away from me.”
Connie: “It got away from you? It's a train, Dewey, not a chipmunk!”
Here is some interesting information that I picked up from "PennDOT Teen Driver Safety Week News Release." Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. October 22, 2008.
- AAA attributes 330,000 highway injuries annually to cell phones being used while driving
- Over 60 percent of American teens admit to risky driving, and nearly half of those that admit to risky driving also admit to text messaging behind the wheel.
- Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year.
The point is; be it statistical or not, the truth is people are texting in hazardous situations, when their mind should be focused on what they are doing. Unfortunately, all to often they are dying, because they are serving the "urgent" and "immediate" need to text. Ask yourself, is anything really that important to risk your life and the life of someone else? Statistics aside, that's the truth.
Let's keep our priorities straight and eyes on the road! TTFN...
Where will you text today?
Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading
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