I have two more personal flaws that I am willing to divulge to my witty, intelligent, and highly attractive readers. For those of you keeping score, you might need a new piece of paper.
Brace yourselves…
1) I forget to wear my seatbelt when I’m driving. Often.
2) I look at my phone when I’m driving. Sometimes..
There you go – let the howls and finger-pointing begin. (I’m going to step out for some snacks until you have gotten it out of your systems.)
Hmmm. Pretzels or Cheetos…
OK, I’m back. Thanks for all the comments, I know it is because you care. I am well aware that my reckless behavior could be endangering my own life, and the lives of others. I know this is serious business.
Even though you don’t want to read it, here is some of the explanation behind my sins. For a lot of years I drove a car that had an automatic shoulder belt. You get in, the shoulder belt comes across your body – done. I got out of the habit. My only excuse for the phone use in the car is that I am a Social Media Titan* and I feel compelled to stay in touch.
(* addicted geek.)
Since I am not making any headway with my excuses, and am feeling absolutely no pity coming though from you, I will just continue my story:
Last Friday, I was driving in my very own neighborhood, minding my own business, thinking deep thoughts, and WHAMMO! A very nice lady smashed her SUV right into my truck. It was not quite a head-on collision, but close. Both vehicles were damaged to the point where they had to be towed away. Nobody was hauled away in an ambulance, but we were hurting. Just in case you were wondering, no profanity escaped these lips.
This happened about 15 minutes after I posted the Young Women’s Maturity Value on my blog. (link here) Divine Retribution? Perhaps.
Now I am dealing with the fallout. Insurance issues, rental cars, adjustors, etc. I had to go to the doctor. Sore neck, back, mild concussion. Irritating, but not life-threatening. Got some pain meds and muscle relaxers, etc. All will be well. Get well soon gift cards gladly accepted.
But wait – here’s there is a part to this story that you might find interesting: Friday morning, when the accident occurred…
A) I had my seatbelt on.
B) My phone was at home, on my bathroom counter.
Ha! I know, right? I always have my phone with me. And my reading glasses. The accident was so close to my house that I walked home to get my phone and reading glasses to handle the paperwork with the police.
And the seatbelt? On. Yes, I was wearing it.
So both of my bad habits that could have been responsible for my untimely demise were not in play.
Fast forward three days to yesterday, for a change of subject.
My family is currently reading in 3 Nephi for scripture study. A lot of it has been about how the Nephites bounced around from righteousness to wickedness in the years between Samuel the Lamanite’s visit, and Christ’s visit.
Granted, that pendulum of righteousness seems to swing back-and-forth throughout the entire Book of Mormon. One generation is righteous the next is wicked. Repeat.
However, as things get closer to Christ’s visit, instead of generational shifts, the pendulum begins to swing within much shorter periods of time- even within single years. One year the people are righteous, and blessed for it. The very next year, they turn wicked and are punished. Repeat.
It is remarkable to see how people, like the Nephites, would go through the same cycle again and again and again, without really learning anything from it. I mean, what does it take for a lesson like that to stick? How dumb/stubborn can people be?
I was pondering these deep thoughts later in the morning as I was driving to work. Will people never learn? That was the precise moment when I looked down and realized that I wasn’t buckled.
This video made a huge impact on me. While I am not one to be consumed by my cell phone, I did occasionally use it in the car. No more. Just because a phone rings in the car or beeps, etc., doesn’t mean it needs to be attended to. As the woman says in the video, driving a car is a privilege, not a right and a car can be a very deadly weapon. I hope you’ll watch the video. If you have already seen it, I hope you’ll watch it again. I read your posts. You are a smart man and I admire what you have to say–well, except for this post which greatly saddened me. 😉
http://ut.zerofatalities.com/texting.php
I’m glad you are okay!
To this day I remember meeting the dash of my parents old Ford Farlain (sp?) with my face as a 3 year old. The dog didn’t get hit… A seatbelt would have been great back then.
My grandma never wore her belt, got t-boned by a semi, was in a comma for 2 months, had to relearn family names, how to eat, crawl, “walk” (With a walker), EVERYTHING, never was the same again. I only remember her as the post accident grandma and it always made my mom sad. We always heard about if you don’t wear your seatbelt you’ll end up like grandma or dead. By 5the grade we learned the painful way that the “end up dead” part wasn’t an empty threat. As that lesson was learned again and again over the years it never got easier.
The phone thing is harder. My schedule changes frequently without warning, and the only way I’m notified of a mid drive change of location/cancelation/ change of assignment is via phone. I do make sure I keep checking it limited to stop lights…which I have to sit and wait at constantly. I’m pretty sure the car has a hidden light controller that changes the to red for me. Conspiracy, I tell ya conspiracy.
Glad you were Ok !!
Stop checking your phone while you’re driving. Don’t call people on the phone while they are driving, either. No excuses.
I can’t believe all the people who are commenting about seat belts and not about using your phone while driving!! Do you now that it’s more dangerous than being legally drunk? It’s CRAZY to me that anybody would take that risk with not only their lives but the innocent people on the road around them. TURN IT OFF PEOPLE!! Let’s not wait until a tragedy happens in our own lives to finally come to our senses!
I’ve been following your blog since my cousin shared one of your posts during the presidential election. Love your stuff. I teach 4th grade and am teaching personal narratives. Hope you don’t mind, I’m totally poaching this post as a model for my students. Not really asking permission, just letting you know. Thanks. Keep up the wonderful insights. P.S. I have four kids, two of which still live at home (teens) and I might have poached a post or two for FHE. Thanks again.
That moment when you realize you’re almost blind from the beam in your eye is unpleasant, dangit.
When I was a teen, the parents would tell me all the time to buckle up. I ignored them for the most part. Then one time I was in the back seat and we were moving fairly slowly, thank goodness. My Dad had to put on his breaks suddenly. I whipped off the back seat, whammed into the back of his seat, and slid onto the floor of the car. Nothing hurt but my pride, I quietly picked myself up, sat myself down, and put on my seat belt. My wise, wise parents said *nothing*.
I’ve worn a seat belt ever since.
A few years back I saw a little safety blurb from the orignal Mickey Mouse Club from Jimmy (remember one of the token adult figures). He was advising youngsters to not stand up in the car while their parent was driving but to stay seated. We’ve sure come a long way.
Re checking cell phone: You suffer from *FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). It’s real, and texting/FB etc feed the addiction. I have to put my purse with cell phone in the back seat. Then I can’t text or look at phone OR go through drive-thru for Diet Coke.
*FOMO was first identified by Martha Beck, in her monthly column in Oprah magazine. She is also one of Hugh Nibley’s daughters.
p.s. Love the Conference Countdown ticker. And the fistbump.
Good post. Stay buckled. I get really anxious if I am in somebody else’s vehicle and cannot buckle up. (Rode the train between Fort Worth and Dallas for a couple of years. Knitting was the only thing that kept me calm.) FYI, I work for an insurance defense law firm. And we tell our clients not to discuss the accidents on FB, personal blogs, etc. Your anonymity will not protect you if some “idjit” decides to sue you. You would have to disclose your screen name, etc. It’s all discoverable, at least in Texas.
You are a big man to admit. Thank you. We all have something we need to change. Thanks for your honest posts and bringing it all in……where we can learn from them.
Glad you are okay. Hope you feel better soon from…. You know…those annoying “little” pains. Be careful though….some little pains sometimes turn into bigger pains. Just sayin’. Been there and done that. Don’t close any insurance claims too soon.
I think it’s kind of a mote/beam thing — it’s sometimes much easier to see issues (the pride cycle, etc.) in others than it is to recognize them in ourselves.
As for seat belts, when I was young there were public service ads on TV promoting seat belt use that showed cars with spiderweb-looking cracks in the windshield from passengers hitting the glass in a head-on collision. My mom would always point out those ads and tell us if we didn’t wear our seat belts that it would happen to us. We didn’t pay any attention to her, of course. I finally decided to take her advice and start wearing a seatbelt faithfully when a friend of mine hit somebody head on, and seat belt-less me in the passenger seat made his windshield look just like the ones in the commercials.
Wear your seatbelt, dummy.
What? Your car doesn’t remind you annoyingly when you put it in gear without a buckle? (Mine does.) Glad you were safe, and I love the Conference countdown…
You are truly gifted with the ability to strike at the core of things. Don’t stop writing. . . don’t reveal your true identity. The power of annoniminity can’t be negated.
While I am big on seatbelts due to family loss, I have a REALLY hard time not checking texts while driving. Even though I know it is unsafe. So I hear you. Time to do better.
So glad that if you must be in an accident it was when you had some protection.
I am often amazed at how quickly the Nephites lapsed, but then, I look at myself and, well, ….
My mom was in a car accident Friday morning as well. She has terrible bruises from her seat belt (they were on a highway, hit at 50 mph) and her face is a mess from the air bag, however without those safety measures, she would not be sitting at home recovering today. Seat belts are like insurance you only need them when you are in an accident. ha ha. But like repentance, we should be using them on a daily basis, not just on special occasions.
Spot on!!!!!