Today's safety tip!

blevinandwomba

Do Not Text and Walk. Do Not Do Anything Else On Your Phone and Walk. Especially at Night.

I never used to do any of the above. Just in the last couple of weeks a very good friend moved away, and I've been on my phone quite a bit more. Last evening I was texting while gardening. That works ok. I was still texting when I walked up to the house for something- almost ran into the green beans. Thought, hmmm, shouldn't text and walk. A little while later, after dark, I walked around the front of the house to watch the fireworks the fire department puts off every year. Attempted to walk back around the house. I wasn't texting this time, but I noticed I had accidentally opened an app and attempted to close it while walking. Did you know that the glare of a phone really interferes with my otherwise good night vision? We have a colony of watering cans that we keep at the back end of our driveway all growing season, usually filled with water. I unfortunately disturbed them and they had no choice but to defend their territory. One moment I am closing said app, the next I am on the ground, getting my skirt drenched and my shin gouged. Those wire handles are fierce.

Do Not Do Anything On Your Phone While Walking.

This concludes today's safety bulletin.

Linda Bittle

Oh dear. Good advice. I used to be able to do more than one thing at a time, but no more.

It sure pays to be extra careful. I hope you didn't hurt yourself badly.

VermontCathy

I am not surprised that a phone can wipe out your night vision. They are useful for finding your way in the night sky, but they put out too much glare. Some smartphone apps have a "red" mode that makes them less bright, but it doesn't really work because the phone will switch back to the bright screen when it goes to sleep and gets woken up again.

Smartphones are very useful, but use them with care.

Cornelius

At my school (pre-pandemic) so many students would be walking around on their phones it was crazy. I know people have walked into things while on them. My Senior year of high school the teachers made a video about no Pokémon Go in school and one of the teachers walked into his pool while "playing" lol.

blevinandwomba

On the plus side, I entertained my three-year-olds all week with my colorful shin. They like me to enumerate the boo-boos. "Here's the gouge, here's the bruise, here's the scratch, and here's the pokes (cluster of small scratches). After you've been in childcare too long, you'll do about anything to distract the darlings.

naomi.kohlmeier

Also, don't try to text while you are running on the treadmill. I was certain I broke my leg, but thankfully it was only a bad sprain. Felt pretty stupid.

dipat2005

@naomi.kohlmeier one day my friend left her dog too long on the treadmill and the dog hurt her hip. I know it seems strange that a dog would walk on a treadmill. Some of my grandkids walked on the treadmill with the dog and my friend's husband walked with the dog on the treadmill. They decided not to walk the dog outside. There were a number of other dogs already in the mobile home park.

LaurieLovesLearning

It is amazing how disoriented those phones can make a person. This doesn't happen to me easily, and it is a strange feeling when I've had it happen as a passenger in a car & also while looking at my grocery list in a store. I thought I was walking straight, but I bet I wasn't! You cannot multitask when using a phone. Nope, no way!

I can totally understand why texting & driving (and texting & walking) causes accidents.

Thanks for the bulletin.

blevinandwomba

You know, at the back of my mind, I used to be rather smug about people stuck on their phones all the time. But in fairness, I never had a reason to be on my phone much until recently; most of my friends don't like to text, and I can barely stand it. But if it's the only way to keep in touch with someone, suddenly you're checking it a whole lot more. Also, I have a home computer and a landline phone; an increasing number of people don't.