At the Wheel OR 32/365

Today in Alberta, the new Distracted Driving Law went into effect. There are now legal consequences for such activities as (but not limited to):

• using hand-held cell phones
• texting or e-mailing (even at a red light or behind a train)
• using electronic devices like laptop computers, video games, cameras, video entertainment displays and programming portable audio players (e.g., MP3 players)
• entering information on GPS units
• reading printed materials in the vehicle
• writing, printing or sketching, and
• personal grooming

while operating your vehicle.

Admittedly, I have engaged in some of those distracted behaviours myself. I once tried to argue that it was only when I was driving alone. When I have passengers, I would never want to risk hurting them in an accident. The person I was talking to responded, "just everyone else on the road." ...Point taken. Really, I'm glad this new legislation is in place. Sure, it's not a perfect solution--just as photo radar clearly doesn't stop people from speeding permanently. Still, I feel it's a step in the right direction.

I read through the FAQ on the Ministry of Transportation website last week, and some of the questions they posted surprised me. Particularly, "How does this legislation balance the need for safety with the realities of multi-tasking that occur in day-to-day driving?" ...Sorry, what?

...the realities of multi-tasking that occur in day-to-day driving... As if that's the way driving is, rather than the way driving has become. No driver needs to multi-task in the car. We do it because we've become a fast-paced, technology-dependent, time-crunched society.*

You've probably heard of the "Slow Movement", which encourages people to take all aspects of life at a healthier (and often slower) pace. It is about reducing the rush-rush mentality, and creating room to live more purposefully and meaningfully. Faster and more are not always better.

I love how people think this is some new idea. It's not. It might just be that the some of the ways our ancestors did life before urbanization and the inundation of technology might actually have been a good way to do things. Go figure. As an introvert who hates moving from one activity to the next without down time, and as someone who can't handle that rushed feeling being thrown at her, my thought when I first heard about the Slow Movement was, it's about freaking time this lifestyle became trendy.

As much as I already embrace things like down time, cooking my own meals, planting a garden, engaging children in natural play, reading a book instead of immersing myself in multimedia... I still fall prey to my iPod, my cell phone, and most certainly the computer. I also fall prey to the need to always be doing something; not rushing--I hate that feeling--more just not being bored or inactive. Heaven forbid I actually sit alone with my thoughts and maybe with God for five minutes. Must. Fill. Empty. Space. ....Right.

And then so many of my activities are dictated by my needing a car to get there. I am in my car a lot.

Appreciating the value of the Slow Movement doesn't mean I plan on giving up my car or anything. Generally speaking, I love to drive. And our transit system kinda sucks. But I think I can be more proactive in how I spend my drive time.

• I don't need to call that person right away; I will be wherever I'm going soon enough (and if I do need to call that person right away, I can pull over). 
• I can put on lip gloss before I start moving.
• I can sit patiently at a red light for the whole minute or less that it's red (rather than squeezing out three more words of a text message).
• I can eat lunch at the office. It is not in my job description to scarf down lunch while I'm driving; I put that on myself.

This new legislation is kinda like a fresh reminder. What are my priorities when I'm driving? What makes me feel like I have to multi-task in the car? What am I doing behind the wheel?

* It still blows my mind that there are people who try to do things like brush their teeth while driving. How do you even do that? I can't even brush my teeth and text at the same time, let alone brush my teeth and drive. ...And yes, I have found myself in a place where I was brushing my teeth and texting--but that's a different story.

Cellular Journey

So I just recently came back from a two week, well-deserved holiday in Florida and the Caribbean. Not only did I take a vacation physically, I think my brain took a vacation, too, because in the space of two weeks, I misplaced my purse, lost my cell phone, and missed my connecting flight home.

But it's the cell phone I want to reflect upon. I had an overnight layover during my trip, and used my cell phone as an alarm to wake me up for the early flight. No problem. When I got on the airplane, I thought, "I should turn my cell phone off." I reached into my purse to grab it, and... nothing there. I emptied the entire contents of my purse on the seat beside me and emptied individual pockets of my backpack. The phone was gone. Somewhere between waking up and boarding the airplane, I either set it down and didn't pick it up again, or it fell out of a pocket onto the streets of Toronto.

The lost phone was not really a big deal while I was on vacation. I had already spent a week in Florida without using it, and I knew I wouldn't have service in Turks and Caicos. I suspended the account online when I arrived in T&C, and didn't think twice about it for the rest of the week.

...I use multiple methods of communication, but it's really struck me this week where I specifically prefer to have my cell phone. As I mentioned, I missed my connecting flight home. My cell phone is my most reliable alarm when traveling. If I'd had it, I may not have slept in and missed the flight. And because I missed my flight, I needed to contact the friends picking me up, as well as my mom, whose house I was headed to once I'd landed. Texting would have been free. And while I'm not sure long distance on my cell would have cost any less than the payphone I ended up using, it just... would have been nicer to use my own phone. I could have sat down, for instance.

And not to mention the regular texts I was no longer able to send to friends. It surprised me on how many occasions I found myself saying, “guess I will have to tell them about that later” because I couldn’t just text in-the-moment about the cool song I found myself listening to, or the random thought I had, or that thing I just saw that reminded me of a particular person.

I arrived home Easter Sunday, and thankfully had the Monday off to sleep in and gather myself before heading back to my normal routine. Early in the evening I decided I should do groceries so I wouldn't be trying to rush around to do them later. It was a nice sunny day, so I grabbed my shoes, grabbed my purse, and was out the door. As soon as I'd pulled it shut, my brain (which was apparently still on vacation) realized that the keys to both my car and my house were still in the house. I had just locked myself out of my house. And because I'd been on vacation, I had removed the hide-a-key from its spot outside. So it was in the house, too. Neither neighbour had a spare key from the previous owner.

Then I remembered that the guy who’s keeping his car in my garage has a key—yes! I’ll just call him; but… shoot, I don’t know his phone number. His number’s in my cell phone... which I don’t have anyway. Fortunately, I remembered his wife’s cell number and called her from the neighbour’s phone. It was yet another reminder of how much I take access to my cell phone for granted.

Not wanting to shell out for a new phone, I opted to see if anyone had an old one kicking around that I could take off their hands. One of my friends let me know right away that she had a spare, and I picked it up from her right away. I started deleting her old contact list, and personalized the screen display and ring tones. I lifted the suspension of my phone service so that I could swap the number to her phone. In the end, though, I couldn’t transfer the number (note to self: Bell phones cannot become Telus phones).

I went to suspend the account again until I could get another phone. But apparently you can’t suspend your number more than once in 30 days. Great. Now my phone was active and could be utilized if anyone had found it. I decided to call my number. If it went straight to voice mail, I’d know the battery was dead and that phone was not in use. Sure enough, the phone went to voice mail, but in conjunction with relief, as I heard myself say, “Hi, you’ve reached Gina…” I suddenly missed my phone. I got an image of it in my head lying at a curb somewhere, unnoticed as it vibrated, as if to say, “find me! Find me!” I suddenly just wanted my phone, with my contact list, and my pictures, and my ring tones. The phone I could already navigate through. The phone I knew.

The next morning, I remembered that my respite family had gotten an iPhone before we all went to Disney, which meant—in theory—that they had a spare phone. And previously we had had the same cell phones. Sure enough, they had an extra. The back cover that holds the battery in didn’t stay very well, but I could have it if I wanted. I picked it up as soon as I could.

Today at lunch I successfully swapped the number over to my ‘new’ phone. I taped the back cover on. I re-created my contact list. And I texted my friends. ...Could I survive without a cell phone? Certainly. ...Do I want to? No, thanks. :)

Txtng + Drvng

I don't get vocally passionate about a lot of things, but there are a range of safety issues that totally get me riled up when people just don't use common sense: driving impaired; not wearing a seat belt; not wearing a bike helmet; and, as technology has made it an issue, texting while driving. Seriously, how does anyone think this is functional?

(Head's up, this video is quite graphic in the first 60 seconds)


And while that video is a dramatization, those exact scenarios do play out in real life:



Srsly.