The word muse. A double meaning.
In Ancient Greek mythology, a muse was anyone of nine sister goddesses. These sister goddesses were given the duty of protecting a specific art or science. It also means to ponder on, usually in silence. *pen drops in background* Thanks to Collins English Dictionary for the definitions.
With my blog I will think about the little things, although relatively unimportant to most, important to me. I also hope to protect the art of rhetoric and civic life. *Aggahagkasdf* Shameless plug.
The weekly muse, not the news.
So class lets out and you're walking (or #rolling in my case) down East Pollock Road. And what do you see? Well, maybe you don't even notice it anymore. As they're walking, students, necks strained, heads down, staring at their back-lit smart boxes.
walkx*ting
verb
to walk while texting.
"He was walkxting when he fell down a man-hole."
This is a problem. I'm sitting at the back of a big, steep lecture hall. The responses to the last clicker question are entered. Class is over. People start gushing out of the doors. And so I wait until the gushers have gushed. Now I think its time to make a break for it. I start getting into position to exit, the gush has now subsided to a trickle. They look at their phones. Climb three stairs. Look at their phones. Climb three stairs. And I don't want to cut in front for fear they'll end up in my lap. So I wait. The trickle is now more like a drip. And I'm able to sneak out.
walkx*ting
verb
to walk while texting.
"He was walkxting when he fell down a man-hole."
This is a problem. I'm sitting at the back of a big, steep lecture hall. The responses to the last clicker question are entered. Class is over. People start gushing out of the doors. And so I wait until the gushers have gushed. Now I think its time to make a break for it. I start getting into position to exit, the gush has now subsided to a trickle. They look at their phones. Climb three stairs. Look at their phones. Climb three stairs. And I don't want to cut in front for fear they'll end up in my lap. So I wait. The trickle is now more like a drip. And I'm able to sneak out.
It may seem like a selfish thing for me to be preaching about. But there are real dangers to walkxting.
Like not noticing gorillas in fedoras.
Or getting hit by a bus...
via GIPHY (I have two sisters)
That escalated quickly. When you text and walk you pay less attention to your environment and you're more prone to tripping and falling and getting hit by buses. Let's look at the facts. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, pedestrian fatalities peaked this year over the past 40 years. Pedestrian fatalities increased 10% this past year. YIKES! Smart phones are to blame, well sort of...
When Thomson/Reuters asked for an explanation for the increase in fatalities by a co-author of the report, Richard Retting, says that the increase in fatalities coincide with an improving economy and decreasing gas prices. For any of you taking macroeconomics, this would lead to increased discretionary spending. And it goes like this: parents start buying more cars for their teenage kids. Teenagers are at the greatest risk for car accidents. An increased number of people are more interested in their phones than their lives or the lives of others.
Smush. (I won't end all my blogs this morbidly)
This was really funny and entertaining to read; I loved the use of videos! I also have noticed that people are always on their phones (even though I find myself scrolling on social media more often than I like to admit.)
ReplyDelete