rant

[eor]

The other day I was being someone who couldn't seem to choose between the left lane and the right lane. They weaved slowly between the lanes for a while straddling the divider line the whole time, kind of like a boxer doing the bob and weave, this way, that way, where's the punch coming. Finally they made it all the way into the right lane and I chose the left lane and made haste to get by and get out of the way of potential accidents. When I got up beside the car started to veer back into my lane. I was forced to move to my left and play chicken with the oncoming traffic. As I looked to my right to see if the side of the van was going to be smashed I saw the woman who was driving the car just starting to hang up her phone.

derien and I were walking home along the sidewalk the other night after a fine dinner out. As we chatted we crossed a side street in the crosswalk. Halfway across the street the guy walking in front of us stopped dead in his tracks. We had to abruptly swerve around him as he stood there in the middle of the street, in a black coat and dark pants, completely oblivious to the world with his cellphone to his ear.

You may not have seen it in the news but a 13 year old boy was killed while walking along the side of the road in Massachusetts recently. The guy in the SUV was typing a text message and didn't realize as he veered out of his lane. He didn't stop because he "thought he'd hit a mailbox." (I don't buy that for a second)

Now I don't pretend that the first two incidents come anywhere near the callousness of the third, but they all are kin.