In the United States, people have a huge traffic problem—talking on the cell phone while driving. So much of a problem, that it is now a legal issue in a number of states (GO NEW JERSEY!). Anyway, I was always against people who spoke on the cell phone while driving. Not because a person may have only one hand to drive…that to me does not matter. What matters is that when one speaks on the phone while driving, instead of concentrating on the road, the cars surrounding one’s vehicle, the traffic lights and street signs, the person is focusing on the conversation on the phone. Many people can multitask, yes, but concentration is a different thing. One may be able to physically DO the two things—drive and talk on the cell phone—but the concentration is mainly on one of the two…and the latter usually wins. Therefore, there are many accidents, almost accidents, and, well, stupid gestures due to this, what seems to be insignificant, action.
I am walking in the city, to pick something up at the hotel. As I am crossing one of the busier streets in Mendoza, I notice a car parked (would be illegally, but here it is not illegal unless you are actually doing something extremely wrong and are in the way) on the side of the road. Nothing seems to be wrong with the car, no black fuming smoke coming from the hood, no major dents on any part of the vehicle, the trunk is not even open so it does not look like anyone stole anything from the guy, but he’s parked on the side of the road. Did something happen to him physically? Did he have a heart attack or a stroke and miraculously with his manual shift vehicle was able to park on the side of the road carefully?
I look in to the vehicle (to make sure the guy was not dying) and I did not notice any blood gushing out of an orifice or any seizure of any sort. In fact, the guy just seemed to be calmly talking on the cell phone. This is not the first time I have noticed this. I have actually been in the car when the driver has done this. It seems like it is a natural reaction here in which if one receives a call on their cell phone while driving, and will be longer than a minute, the person will park on the side of the road to speak calmly with the person on the other line. Also, I have been told they do this in order to not cause any accidents.
Dude. That is incredible. I know in the US “time is money,” and it is also illegal to park on the side of the road to take a flipping phone call, but just imagine how much safer it would be if in the US people actually did this! Just imagine how many accidents the US would avoid. Just imagine how many TRUE phone conversations one could have, rather than the typical one-person-venting-while-the-other-just-says-uh huh-ok-totally! Just imagine how many internal psychological issues one may avoid with the simple gesture of taking a phone call on the side of the road.
I’m truly amazed sometimes by how smart people are here…and they do not have thousands of dollars in college loans to pay back.
K bye.
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