The scene is a small town post office (one that is not closing) where I am picking up my mail. Just around the corner I hear the voice of a woman and a small child. When they turn the corner I see a woman whose age is hard to determine. She has dyed blonde hair, is a little overweight, but could be the child's mother, grandmother or aunt. The child is a small boy about five of mixed race. The little boy has some type of electronic game or tablet in his hand that is taking most of his attention.
Mom: Remember that big black bear on the TV? Remember the man who was texting and not watching where he was going? He almost got eaten by that bear!
Boy: That was a BIG bear!
Mom: And that man almost died! He wasn't paying attention. You need to pay attention.
They headed toward their car still talking.
I agreed with the Mom that walking and looking at an electronic screen were not the safest of things to do and certainly not safe when done by a little boy who had only learned to walk a few years ago. But I am not sure that the correlation of being eaten by a bear when texting or playing a game is quite the argument I would have presented. I think falling down and breaking one's nose was more compelling and certainly more likely or being hit by a car while crossing the parking lot. Do we have to pick on those poor bears?
Mom: Remember that big black bear on the TV? Remember the man who was texting and not watching where he was going? He almost got eaten by that bear!
Boy: That was a BIG bear!
Mom: And that man almost died! He wasn't paying attention. You need to pay attention.
They headed toward their car still talking.
I agreed with the Mom that walking and looking at an electronic screen were not the safest of things to do and certainly not safe when done by a little boy who had only learned to walk a few years ago. But I am not sure that the correlation of being eaten by a bear when texting or playing a game is quite the argument I would have presented. I think falling down and breaking one's nose was more compelling and certainly more likely or being hit by a car while crossing the parking lot. Do we have to pick on those poor bears?
I think anybody would look up if they saw a bear ambling about in the vicinity of the post office.
ReplyDeletePerhaps TV and electronic games are the only means for children to experience anything, standing up or sitting, and nothing ever happens - or becomes 'real' - unless it's depicted on a screen.
The adult's comment was timely. I had just seen the video of the man walking into the bear. It was unbelievable. There were helicopters and emergency vehicles all around and the guy was evidently texting to find out what was going on. Suddenly HE was going on. LOL
ReplyDeleteI think the bear incident is an extreme case of inattention. But so many people these days, particularly the young, miss a lot of the interest and beauty of the world because their attention is directed to a smart phone or sounds coming from things stuck in their ears.
ReplyDeleteI still think children are not learning how to use their imagination any more with the popularity of all these technological gadgets...Teach him to read....
ReplyDeleteSeriously. Bears get enough of a bad rap!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read what the mother said, I initially thought she was joking. Did that encounter with the bear really happen? If so, that is incredible.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a pleasant week ahead.
Sounds to me as if they were just amusing themselves.
ReplyDeletepoor ole bear. still a parable might make it vivid. falling down seems more impossible to a child who hasn't learned mortality.
ReplyDelete