Wow! jst msD hitting SOME1!

Over on Andreas' The Hannibal Blog there's a debate about what to do about cellphoning and texting while driving. One would think there wouldn't be much debate but since we stopped pilloring in this country sometime ago, what can actually be done that might be effective?

Andreas' idea is to use shame (remember shame, the idea that we should feel bad about what we do?) by taking pictures of people, and their license plates, committing acts of folly and danger while using a cellphone in a car and posting them on a blog.

I think we need to bring back the Pillory myself but then I have always been old-fashioned. It's great fun (at someone else's expense), good exercise (what with that throwing of rotten fruit and veggies), and a reason the community to get together. But, alas (and probably alack), we have become more civilized and no longer do such things. And, since public hangings are no longer a regular event, there is not much for the local mob to do on a Saturday night. We are left with TV.

We have also gotten deeply into the self-esteem thing. Can't have anyone feeling they are not entirely justified in hogging the road and paying no attention to pedestrians and such. Why, we'd bruise their egos! Can't have that! We might stifle creativity or impede on their right to be rather stupid. We try very hard to raise the self-esteem of our children, the idea being that this will help prevent them from becoming criminals and miscreants. Very enlightened, don't you think? Certainly has reduced the crime rates and bullying since its inception in the 50's, don't you think?

I think that last paragraph reeks of sarcasm and pompousness. My bad.

My only concern is that we have become such a litigious society (world, actually) that any attempts at shaming people could become quite expensive. The lawsuits may be found to be without merit but they could still be quite expensive to deal with.

Personally, I don't text. I hardly use my cell phone. I only have it for emergencies and rarely turn it on except for important and urgent things like calling Faye to tell her I will be even later than I thought returning from the golf course. To be honest, I hate the darn things. But, then, I hated telephones that were wired to the wall. Demanding little things.

"Pick me up!" (ring, ring)
"Hurry!" (ring, ring)
"It might be important!" (ring, ring)
"Drop whatever you are doing and pick me up!!" (ring, ring)

And we always have. Dropped whatever we were doing and dashed to the phone. Or picked it up off the nightstand. Or fretted because, well, we were in the bathroom and, uh, "busy" at the moment and couldn't get to the phone in time.

Yes, I think of them as electronic Slave-masters that have bent us to their will. Even though I spent 34 years working in the industry, supporting their evil control over us all. I feel I was one of Satan's Minions. And I am ashamed... except when I get my pension check each month.

Sometimes, when I wax nostalgic, I recall a time before answering machines and even cordless phones. I remember a time where we might be out of touch with anyone not within a few feet of us for hours at a time. And, somehow, we survived. The sky remained above our heads, our fortunes weren't lost, friends remained friends, and life continued. I think. At least I thought it did.