Driving and Cellphoning

A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend who was driving and cellphoning.

"I feel so much better using a headset in the car," she says.

I agree, having been on the hands free bandwagon for as long as I can remember. I am headset proponent even when I am not driving. How else can I spend 900 minutes a month on my phone and ever get anything done? Plus, when I hold the phone for more than 15 minutes I get a crick in my elbow joint. Meaning my elbow is stuck in the phone holding position for at least three days. When it finally straightens, it continues to ache for three more days.

I can hear readers now saying, "Oh yeah, that stuff happens when you get old." People, this has actually been happening my entire phone talking career, which I started at a very young age. Don't get me going on the old age conspiracy, please! First of all "retired" needs to be fired. What is that some sort of refried bean? Oops, I said I wasn't going to do that. I apologize.

"So many driver's don't wear headsets, even with the new law," my friend unfortunately reminds me.

I decided many years ago not to look at what other people were doing while driving. Why? It is too darn scary to know I am on the road with so many other distracted drivers, who are also pretending to be in the Indy 500 or playing Nintendo, depending on their age. At least Indy drivers and Gamers concentrate on what they are doing.

However, for the next few days after my friend's comment, "people still drive and talk on their phones without a headset," I couldn't stop noticing all the people driving and cellphoning by hand on the road.

In fact, one person was even juggling and talking to their cat, while driving and cellphoning without a headset. Yikes! I couldn't stop staring, when the distracted driver suddenly felt my heavy eyes. He proceeded to give me the evil eye staredown, which immediately averted my eyes to another driver, who was picking his nose while shaving and texting, "Ldy n cr nxt 2 me wnt stp starin' WTF?!"

Later that same day a police officer snapped my neck out of its rubber necking position. I pull up to a stop sign, stopping completely, as I notice the cop at the stop sign adjacent to me. I glance at the officer, trying to look and feel legal in the company of the law, when I notice he is holding a cellphone in his hand and talking.

Wilco, not whiskey, Tango Foxtrot (WTF)??? If cops are supposed to be upright outstanding law abiding citizens, at least in uniform, what is the hope for everyone else? Either way I no longer peer voyeuristically into other people's cars while driving, especially not Jonny Law's car.