"WTF?…THE TEXTER AND THE DRIVER…"

Hi Friends!

Today's "WTF?" © stevenn beck

How about a double-header of modern/idiotic/unsafe behavior?

1. This afternoon I was waiting for the F train at Rockefeller Center. A young woman across the platform was waiting for the D or B train. She was engrossed her texts (ever notice how many of these stories involve cell phone utilization?) her head was down, fingers busily taking a walk on the technological wild side. When the oncoming D train repeatedly honked it's annoying horn - meaning it wasn't going to stop - the woman didn't even pick up her head to see what was going on. When the train - completely empty except for its crew - pulled into the station for a moment - with the words "OUT OF SERVICE" on the lead car clearly visible - she never noticed. And - when the doors failed to open - she again failed to notice. Instead... the young woman - without thinking, head still down, mind still on all of those fascinating and clearly urgent text messages - fingers still typing madly away - walked right into the closed door of the subway car. Shocked, she almost allowed her right foot to slide between the platform and the train - just as the D again began to pull out of the station. Turned out she was OK - I walked over to check - but a little shaken up.

However obviously not TOO shaken up - she returned to her texts a moment later.

2. Arriving at my destination in Queens, I need to walk down a one-way street the wrong way. It was OK of course - I was on foot. Not so the driver of a large SUV, who - parked at a meter at the very end of the block where I'd exited the subway station - opted to back up the entire length of the street rather than make a few turns and drive around the block. Evidently undeterred by the presence of the large moving van double-parked in the middle of the narrow street, he continued to drive in reverse - narrowly missing an elderly gentleman who foolishly crossed the street behind the moving van without looking in both directions - barely squeezing the SUV through the space between the double-parked van and the parked cars. Finally, at the end of the street the SUV had to back-out into oncoming traffic. All this took a few minutes, many more minutes than it would have for the SUV driver to merely drive safely around the damn block - obeying the damn traffic laws - and come up around the other side.

So….to BOTH the texting woman and the driver of the SUV I give one hell of a huge "WTF?!"

Bye for now- be safe!

Stevenn