IT IS not uncommon these days to witness people walking the streets of any city, apparently fully engrossed in some very important activity on a mobile device.
These folk are oblivious to their surrounds and expect the rest of those who are walking alongside or in the opposite direction to avoid them, not the other way around.
In other words, they expect the rest of the crowd to look after them. Their stupidity in not being bothered to look around and navigate safely along the pavements should be subsidised by everyone else.
There have been cases reported in which people have died by falling into manholes; they were so engrossed in some extremely important activity on their mobiles that they fell down manholes and their sojourn on earth ended abruptly.
Yet we continue to subsidise such stupidity on our sidewalks every day.
A young woman came within an inch of crashing into me some weeks ago and was taken aback when I told her she was stupid and that she should look where she was going.
The next time this happens – and there will be a next time given the number of nitwits who traverse the paths of the city I live in – I will experiment with knocking the mobile device that is the source of the distraction out of the individual’s hands.
It will be an interesting experience if nothing else.