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Sometimes it sucks to be right
When I was returning from San Francisco back in April, I got in a HUGE fight with my sister and her friend, Kay. Kay was the driver (we were using her car) and she had a terrible habit of constantly texting while she was driving. Worst of all, she has one of those internet phones that allows her to check her Facebook (she did that while driving, too! O_o). I kept asking her nicely to stop doing it and, after the fifth or sixth time I asked, she snapped at me and said...
Kay: "Look, Brenda. I don't want to be mean. But this is MY CAR and I don't appreciate you telling me how to drive! I text and drive all the time and I've never had an accident. It's no big deal!"
Me: "You've been texting non stop for nearly two hours. Can't those messages wait until we get back home?"
Kay: "I've been away for four days and I have to catch up with a lot of people!!"
Me: "If you absolutely MUST send a million text messages right now, why not let someone else drive?"
After that, Kay and my sister ragged on me for having the audacity to question Kay's driving (apparently, being the driver=being above criticism). And, once we got home, both of my sisters (the one in the car with me is 23, the other is a teenager) and one of my other sister's teenage friends echoed the "texting is no big deal" line. They even accused me of "acting like an old lady" because I got on Kay's case! I told them that I was just being sensible and that it was only a matter of time before Kay had an accident.
Well, a few days ago, Kay had a car accident.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. She rear-ended another car; but there wasn't much damage and her car can be fixed. She claims the accident happened because she was tired. But I think she lied because texting is illegal and her parents might have smashed her phone and if they knew her texting habits.
I really hope this will wake up Kay and make her realize that text messages and Facebook can wait until she stops the car. If she gives up texting behind the wheel, my sister is sure to follow.
I hate to sound like an after school special. But I really hope that, if any of you reading this are in the habit of texting while driving, you'll stop. And if you don't do it but you know someone who does; please be a nag and tell them it's a BAD idea. They probably won't listen (ESPECIALLY if they're stupid f#$king teenagers); but it's worth a shot.
/gets off soapbox
Kay: "Look, Brenda. I don't want to be mean. But this is MY CAR and I don't appreciate you telling me how to drive! I text and drive all the time and I've never had an accident. It's no big deal!"
Me: "You've been texting non stop for nearly two hours. Can't those messages wait until we get back home?"
Kay: "I've been away for four days and I have to catch up with a lot of people!!"
Me: "If you absolutely MUST send a million text messages right now, why not let someone else drive?"
After that, Kay and my sister ragged on me for having the audacity to question Kay's driving (apparently, being the driver=being above criticism). And, once we got home, both of my sisters (the one in the car with me is 23, the other is a teenager) and one of my other sister's teenage friends echoed the "texting is no big deal" line. They even accused me of "acting like an old lady" because I got on Kay's case! I told them that I was just being sensible and that it was only a matter of time before Kay had an accident.
Well, a few days ago, Kay had a car accident.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. She rear-ended another car; but there wasn't much damage and her car can be fixed. She claims the accident happened because she was tired. But I think she lied because texting is illegal and her parents might have smashed her phone and if they knew her texting habits.
I really hope this will wake up Kay and make her realize that text messages and Facebook can wait until she stops the car. If she gives up texting behind the wheel, my sister is sure to follow.
I hate to sound like an after school special. But I really hope that, if any of you reading this are in the habit of texting while driving, you'll stop. And if you don't do it but you know someone who does; please be a nag and tell them it's a BAD idea. They probably won't listen (ESPECIALLY if they're stupid f#$king teenagers); but it's worth a shot.
/gets off soapbox
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(Oprah has been really trying to get people to stop texting while driving. She even did a whole episode on it and I think it's still up on her website. She left it there for people to watch and wise up. Maybe the show would scare your sister into stop texting while driving. XP)
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Speaking of cell phone laws; back when California first passed a 'don't talk on the phone while driving' law, they forgot to include texting in that ban. So a lot of people thought "oh, talking is illegal but texting isn't. So I'll just text instead!". So the law had to be quickly amended to included texting because tons of idiots started texting on the road and causing accidents.
...it's way too easy for stupid people to get a damn drivers license. :(
(Oprah has been really trying to get people to stop texting while driving. She even did a whole episode on it and I think it's still up on her website. She left it there for people to watch and wise up. Maybe the show would scare your sister into stop texting while driving. XP)
When my mother and I (mom was on my side when I got home) told my sister how stupid her opinions on texting are; she accused us of only hating texting-while-driving because Oprah told us to. :P
I'd like to believe that Kay's accident was a wake up call. But I'm pretty sure my sister believes that Kay only rear-ended that car because she was tired.