Filmmaker Casey Neistadt's New York Times public service video on texting while walking is cute and informative, but I totally knew all of this stuff already. I know texting while walking is dangerous, New York Bossytimes. You don't have to tell me it's rude, either, because I get that message loud and clear every time I go walking and texting see other people walk and text on the streets.
Um, hold on while I check this (tap tap tap tap). Okay -- what were you saying? Oh, me? Right, texting and walking, super dangerous. Okay, seriously though -- I am so guilty of this. GIL T. (Pretty sure that the correct text spelling.) I mean, I'm just as likely to actually be Google-Mapping while walking, but yeah, the temptation to seek guidance and conversation while walking is almost too great to resist.
Casey points out a few things you need to know about texting while writing. Oddly, it's like he assumes there's no point in just telling us not to text and walk. It's a foregone conclusion that we're never going to drop this obnoxious and potentially deadly habit. But we need to understand that 1) almost everywhere is your blind spot and 2) it's rude to block other people because you're too distracted to look where you're going.
So to solve these two problems, he recommends a simple solution. Stop texting while walking? Ha ha! Of course not, silly! No, since you cannot resist the siren call of your iPhone chimes, just pull over to the side, put your back against a wall, and stay there until you finish typing out your text. Which I totally already do, I swear! I knew that already even from the days before incessant texting. In busy cities like New York, we all know that you basically treat the sidewalk like you're driving a car -- if you need to stop, pull over to the side of the road so everyone can go around you.
There's just one little problem: If you're always texting, and you're pulling over to a wall and stopping, you're never going to get anywhere! That's why I'm writing this post from 38th Street and Broadway as we speak. Wait, no, I just looked up and I'm only on 37th. My point is, we still haven't solved this problem completely. Until I can get my hands on the iPhone 4-whatever and get Siri to read my texts aloud to me -- does Siri do that? -- we still have not solved the texting and talking problem. Wait a minute! I've got it -- maybe I could just call people and talk to them instead! Brills! You're welcome, everyone. You don't need this video after all.
Do you ever text while walking?
Image via Zawezome/Flickr