Heads Up!

September 13, 2014

We all do it. Okay, maybe all is a bit strong, but I would bet that darn near everyone who has a cellphone has texted or surfed the web on their phone while walking. Replying to this text, checking that Facebook post or being disconnected for any extended period of time has become so unthinkable that we can’t even walk from one class to the next without having our noses buried in our phones. What are we afraid of missing? Are we going to lose our friends if we don’t respond to their text immediately or like their status on Facebook? Is the world going to come crashing down around us if we are not constantly and forever in the loop. We sure seem to think so.

I sat outside the Mizzou Student Center on Friday afternoon for a half hour and the number of people who walked by with their heads down and fingers banging away was significant. We have a gorgeous campus here at Mizzou (more on that in a later blog post so stay tuned), and yet we’re determined to stare down at our feet whenever we’re on the move. You’ll notice that I’ve been saying “we” a lot throughout this post. That’s because I am an affirmed texter-and-walker. I know I shouldn’t. I make a conscious effort to keep my phone away when I’m walking around. I do my best to truly take in my surroundings and experience the world when I’m outside. And yet even on the walk from the Student Center to the Reynolds Alumni Center after taking these photos, I was on my phone. It’s a sickness. But we can all get better.