Health Risks of Baggy Pants and Texting

Everyone knows, or should know that texting and driving is one of the most dangerous choices a person can make. What about walking and texting?

Almost every week, a person gets hit by a car on the main road near our house. You would think that they would learn to use the crosswalk, but they don’t. See, I’m a chicken when it comes to crossing busy intersections. So much so, that I’m afraid to even use the crosswalk. If at all possible, I prefer just staying on my side of the street. The roar of the traffic scares me. I guess that’s a product of growing up in a small town.

Not everyone has that fear though. The other day, we pulled out of our neighborhood only to be met by a man who proceeded to walk out in front of our car. As we were driving in his direction, he stepped off the sidewalk while staring at his phone. He didn’t glance up to look for oncoming cars, nor did he pick up his pace to cross the road.

Instead, he slowly made his way to the center of the street where he came to a complete stop. Seeing that he was no longer moving, we had to hit the brakes to avoid crashing into him. Although we had come to an abrupt stop and we were sitting directly in front of him, he still didn’t look up.

With his phone in hand, he stood there texting away as if he was the only person in town. Finally, we came to the conclusion that he was in no hurry to move and had no idea we were even there, so we turned and drove past him.

Either that text was more important than his life, or he was too drugged to know that we were there. Whatever the case may be, texting and walking is not a good idea, especially when crossing the street.

Secure Those Pants

When it’s not texting that causes people to mosey across the street, it’s their baggy pants. We frequently drive in an area of town where people seemingly have a death wish. It’s an area of town where most of the people spend their days walking around, getting high and having no care for tomorrow. It’s a very sad place to be.

The main road that goes through that part of town consists of 4 lanes of traffic. Almost every time we go through there, we see someone slowly walking across the street, oblivious to the oncoming cars. This isn’t done in a crosswalk mind you, and cars are traveling at rates of 40-50 mph. People get hit by cars so often there, that most of them don’t even make the news anymore.

The pedestrians’ slow pace in this area is sometimes due to texting, but most often from walking in a way that enables them to hold up their pants, or what’s contained within them. “It’s still there”, I want to tell them as I pass by, but wisdom always stops me.

Each step they make is so drawn out and exaggerated that it takes them ‘forever’ to cross the street. From all appearance, it’s a mission for them to be able to get across the road and still be dressed on the other side. I can’t count how many times we’ve had to stop in the middle of the street or swerve past people to avoid hitting them.

People should be able to wear whatever they want. But in my opinion, if your pants have the possibility of getting you killed, wouldn’t it be smart to invest in a pair that properly fits? Then again, who am I to say anything? I’m a girl who wears heels sometimes. Those are a twisted ankle waiting to happen.

After experiencing so many close calls with people on the road, I’ve decided that both texting and baggy pants can be bad for your health. So, I have two requests for these people. First, don’t walk and text. Second, please secure your pants before crossing the road.

These may be simple requests, but adhering to them could save lives.