Modern Youth and a Digression

I went to the One Stop shop at Garroways in Coffee Hall to buy milk. I prefer to go there rather than the Eaglestone shop, although they stock milk and it's generally a good shop for basic items. I preferred to go to the one at Garroways because they sell milk in six-pint bottles which means less traipsing to the shops when it runs out. Incidentally, on the subject of milk, I had a knock on the door the other morning and it was the milk roundsman asking if we wanted milk delivered. I suppose it's a shame that the supermarkets have virtually killed off the traditional milkman's deliveries. No, we didn't want to have it delivered, although in some ways it would be more convenient but in all honesty I don't think we'd benefit from having it delivered as we always pick it up when we're in Sainsbury's or which ever supermarket.

Anyway, before I wandered from the track. A little digression. A bit like Ronnie Corbett in his rocking chair when he did those marvellous monologues as part of the BBC Saturday evening shows "The Two Ronnies." Did he have a rocking chair? I'm not sure. But it was an armchair of some sort, surely? I'll have to do some research on that.  Or even Laurence Sterne's amazing book "Tristram Shandy" which goes off in all sorts of directions and never seems to get to the point. (Incidentally, a book which I have read and enjoyed immensely and can recommend.) Now, where was I? Oh, yes.  I was queueing at the till to pay and there was this individual in front of me with headphones stuck in his ears (earbuds, not necessarily headphones) and he was jigging away to his music, looking a right idiot and oblivious to the world around him. Do the youth of today realise how stupid they look, not only jigging around in silence (obviously not themselves if they can hear the 'canned' music through their ear-phones) but more stupid if wearing those big headphones, which must be heavy on their head? Also, thinking logically, how can you hear the noise of traffic if you're listening to loud music and even people having conversations around them? I don't suppose it any worse than someone going around with their smartphone glued to their hand and not paying attention to things. I was walking along one of the many corridors in the hospital the other afternoon (I think I was going to the pharmacy to pick up some medications for Carol which were on order.) This couple were walking along, one, a young boy, more interested in looking at his mobile, and they walked past me, and a few steps on I head this crash, he'd walked into a chair, obviously not paying much attention to the world around him. Most likely injured as a result, but more interested in texting or reading messages on Facebook than being aware of what's in the way. A little laugh to myself, not only as a result of this incident. but the other one earlier this morning.

What are the statistics, do you suppose, of how many people are injured or even killed, as a result of walking along looking at their smartphones and not paying attention to what they're doing? Or the same with those narcissists who insist on taking a selfie with their iPhones and falling over the edge of cliffs when they step backwards, or into the passing traffic along a busy road?  Must be quite a high figure. I've mentioned something similar about this when we visit Whipsnade or any other zoo. People seem more interested in taking selfies rather than taking photos of the animals  that are in the enclosures behind them. Not everyone, of course, but quite a large proportion.