September 16, 2007
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWS
Having just spent 45 straight hours in the company of my two adolescent grandchildren (11 and 16), one of which now has his first car and a permit to drive it, I have to say any way you can control their usage of any of the many electronic devices that seem to be growing from them like organic appendages is “sweet” in my book. So next July, California will become the 16th state to clamp down on cell phone use for 16/17-year-old drivers. And the bill doesn’t stop there. It forbids: cell phones, pagers, walkie-talkies, laptop computers, and whatever else they can think of even if it has “hands free” features. Teens who ignore it will get a $20 fee for a first offense and $50 for subsequent ones. One reason cited by the bill’s sponsor is that crash rates are 5 times higher for 16-year-olds than even 18-year-olds. I watched my grandkids this weekend and I swear there was hardly a moment when some electronic device was not in their hands. They were either phoning, texting, or playing games constantly – even when we went for a nice morning walk in the neighborhood. My grandson is angling for an iPhone since the price dropped. I cringe to think of how much more isolated that will make him. For his birthday this year I gave him Catcher in the Rye, hoping to lure him into some summer reading. I thought if any book can charm a 16-year-old it has to be this. This weekend he told me he’d read 15 pages. Probably had to put it down for a phone call and forgot to return. As of May this year, the Oregon House had passed a similar bill and I guess it’s waiting on the Senate. I hope it passes before my grandson gets up to speed in his new-used first car.
Deep Thought: “Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.”
Today I am grateful for: Relief of any kind
Guess the Movie: “I came 12,000 miles back here to get you…What’s the matter with you? Don’t you recognize me?… What are you doing? We don’t have much time… Is this what you want? Is this what you want? I love you… Come on,… come home. Just come home. Home. Talk to me. What did you do to your arms? Do you remember the trees? Do you remember all the different ways of the trees? Do you remember that? Do you remember? Huh? The mountains? Do you remember all that?” Answer: The Deer Hunter, 1978. Winner: thenarrator.
Greenspan Admits Iraq was About Oil, As Deaths Put at 1.2 Million
by Peter Beaumont and Joanna Walters in New York
(Rest of article here.)
Comments (32)
I think it’s important for us to focus in the car…especially when just learning to drive…but we all need to do it! As for all the gadgets…I think they are just like rock & roll…they are here to stay!
It is important to focus on the driving but what about adults? This is not government becoming a substitute parent? What are they going to pass laws to have cops tuck kids into bed too?…
I’m against distracted driving – but then, I’m also against age discrimination. How come an 80-year-old can have a big LCD screen in their Cadillac dashboard? Seniors actually cause more accidents per mile driven but few politicos want to tackle those voters.
Read that Guardian article. Hmmm. Yeah. I guess its nice that someone at least admits it.
In New York you can’t drive with a cell phone, but you can drive with a hands free device which reminds me of an article that said that an animated conversation can be just as distracting…
As to Greenspan, where the heck was he four years ago?
I agree that kids have way too much access to cell phones, the internet, etc.
*sparkle
Remembering our grandson in Oregon who lived in his Game Boy and was oblivious to all society. Periodically his dad would make him put it up and pay attention.
As far as I am concerned, whatever the age, it should be forbidden to use a cell phone in a moving vehicle, hand free or not. A person’s attention should be on the street ONLY – - audio and video.
Sort of goes with all the other things of distraction that motorists engage in nowadays, too many times we have almost been creamed by someone using an electric shaver or someone tweezing their eyebrows or putting on mascara.
Greenspan should have opened his mouth when it counted. He’s a coward.
They’ve been trying to get a law passed to prohibit ALL cell phone use that his not hand-free for at least 4 years. I quit following it long ago, as it kept getting blocked. Electronic appendages, eh? Good luck. I’m sure glad I don’t have to deal with those pressures from youngsters. Yet. Grand kids are a ways down the road.
My kids have cell phones too. Blake walks everywhere and car is not allowed to use hers while driving. I have never purchased any type of video games for them. Kind of nice… they don’t even ask for them. Must have gotten lucky.
Have a great day!
oh, and The Deer Hunter, right? At first, honestly, I was thinking The Simpsons Movie, but it is Deer Hunter, I believe.
Now there’s a range – the Simpson’s and The Deer Hunter. I’m chuckling. But The Deer Hunter is the winner.
Adults need the same law. I don’t understand why people will buy cell phones and for another $30 they won’t buy a hands-free thing. I have a bluetooth ear bud – and it’s just like talking to a passenger in the car. My hands never leave the steering wheel and my attention is on the road. I can usually spot when someone is on the phone while driving – it’s almost a game with my spouse and I.
Oh yes, The Deer Hunter. I knew I recognized the lines, but couldn’t recall. I always feel a sense of trepidation when I consider rewatching that film. It’s so powerful, gut wrenching and I can’t stop thinking about it. But, thanks for the reminder. Needs to go in the queue. I like Ira’s movie mistake, too. Bonus laughs.
I was thinking some more about cell phone use while driving. I got a call the other day from my son, as I was approaching home. This town has so little traffic that you can almost drive backwards, without looking, so I really wasn’t concerned about danger, and only felt a twinge of remorse for bucking principle. However, if my RA drugs allow me to do it, I’m looking to blow this town and head for the Bay Area next week. I lived in San Francisco for 8 years, and came back frequently during 6 years living in Napa, so I can visualize the places I’ll have decisions to make, and I’m comfortable enough with the general lay of the land to be able to react pretty easily. At least I can do that if I pay attention. I can’t imagine having a conversation, hands free or not, that was anything other than step by step driving directions, that fit into the context of getting from one place to another. It would drive me crazy. So, in my case, my Blue Tooth ear piece would do no good except to allow me to say “I’ll call you back.” I think I’ll take my chances on voice mail. Is this just me getting old, do you think?
I wonder if people will still listen intently to Greenspan the way they did when he was THE FED. I respect the man, am convinced that his keeping interest rates low for so long is the ONLY reason, we didn’t face massive financial chaos and deep recession. But, I can’t imagine that his saying what he did could matter one iota, but who knows.
Kid’s don’t have any social skills and they don’t have a reason to converse. It scares me to think of what this nation has to look forward to if most of these kids aren’t going to know how to talk. I thank God that my kids are social. I loved your blog and thanks for visiting my site today.
BTW, FYI… CA passed 2 laws, the one restricting kids from using electronic devices, and the general restriction that requires hands free cell phone usage. I personally think they’re both good.
I am a throw back to another era….my teen does not ,and will not own a cell until shes in college.By then some maturity will be in play and hopefully some laws will have been passed. I also limit her ridership, she does not ride with people driving who have not had a license for more then a year,and when she gets hers she will not have passengers for a good long while.. We had a pair of girls, they were sisters get killed on the way to the local high school one was sixteen and the other a year older. The older one was text messaging when she rolled their car. I feel the same way about adults using hand held cell phones and driving. Until the state passes laws parents can make rules and if they know how to exercise some serious leverage ( I always keep my promises ) and they don’t mind having their kids fume a bit they can make the roads a bit safer.I would btw let her take a cell on a long class trip or something but when did owning a cell phone become a teen entitlement?
the deer hunter….. it changed my life in a very strange way……… and if you had posted the words uttered by christopher walken before he killed himself, i would not have been able to go to work this morning.
cellphones…………erggggggggggggggggggg……….the new heroin. the new cigarette. the new isolation room.
RYC… thanx for the comments and for stopping by. actually… those mannequin heads are 21 & 22″ circumferences… so they arent tiny at all
(and there is always stretch in my knitted/crochet/woven things 
oooh and i forgot to ask………why is that steering wheel on the scion (?) so tiny?
My 17 year old read Kurt Vonnegut this summer without even being prodded. I was reading Galapagos and he decied to read it too. Maybe that type of book would be more tempting. As for cell phones, yes they are distracting. Too much so.
I’ve been thinking about you, talking to my son about visiting a free music festival in Golden Gate Park. It’s billed as Not Strictly Bluegrass. Not the 60′s and not the same energy, but SF still embracing music for the people. Some links: general info and schedule. Home for me was 6th and Judah, then Arguello. The music venues are down around 28th Ave, but the park was my backyard, so this will be close. I’ll play tourist, and come in on Bart and Muni Metro.
RYC: Silly, stupid, and old!
I’m a cell phone Nazi, lol. The staff at the public library seem to quake in their shoes when they see me approaching (I swear!) because most likely I’m getting ready to complain about some moron talking on their phone in the reading area or just plain walking around with their blue-tooth headset talking to someone while they browse. I think they should be outlawed while driving.
I hate driving and holding my cell phone – if my earpiece battery is dead, I just tell whomever calls that I’ll call them back. I’m not in the business of saving lives, so nothing anyone has to say to me is life-and-death.
I love all the electronic gadgets and only wish some of them could have been invented while I was young. My kids have to show me how to use a lot of them but I still want to use them. I love video games too. I think the kids today are more social …..just in a different way than us older folks were and are. Just because they are different, doesn’t make them wrong…..just different.
It’s getting chillier, eh? LOVE IT!!
Hey there. RYC: Can you tell me a little about your light? We are in the market for one and are overwhelmed by the sizes, the variety, and the cost. Thanks much.
being 40 as i am, i defy the stereotype that only adolescents are online all the time. i have an iphone and i’m not afraid to use it. i’m on facebook, twitter, xanga, and more social networks than i care to admit. it appeals to me as it enables me to connect with people i both know and dont. it also enables me to feel productive when i’m waiting on line at the dmv.
i agree that balance is key. i still make time for people, knitting, canoeing, and exercise. the ability to balance is crucial otherwise you end up with some weasel who is unable to look you in the eye.
i applaud your concern but i’d recommend inquiring about their interests and getting them to tell you why they’re hooked. i think by doing this they’ll realize you’re curious and cool and not dead set against you aren’t because you’re here on xanga and popular too!
but driving while texting?? deadly! i personally think people shouldn’t be able to drive until they’re 25.
RYC: there’s really no way they can’t make money. At the very worst, they break even. They’re already rich, at least reasonably, one of the biggest bands in the world, and their fans love them.
Plus there are no record execs to pay this time around. If it goes like it should, this may very well change the industry.
Thanks for reading,
J
It’s even worse in college towns. Everyone is scrambling to get from one place to the other, trying not to be late getting to classes. And Thursday party nights are the worst. Everyone calling each other while driving from party to bar back to party. They pretty much all estimate how much space they can leave between the car and the person they almost hit, and decide that way if it’s worth it. I’m an employee at a university, and with the students being back for only 6 weeks, I’ve already had to jump on a hood of an oncoming car to avoid being run down.
No problem. Feel free to drop by my forum for writers. http://www.scribefarm.com.
I really do agree that people shouldn’t be talking on the phone while driving. It’s just too much of a distraction.
catcher in the rye… i so hope he read it ~ jack