Distractions

 Good morning !  Hope your Thursday is going well so far.  I know it’s hot in a lot of the country right now, and trust you are staying somewhat cool.  Today’s thought comes from some observations I’ve been making while driving in Wichita.  Yes, I know that many people in Wichita as well as elsewhere sometimes exhibit bad driving habits such as changing lanes without signaling, rushing in front of someone on a four-lane road only to slow down and turn…making the driver they pushed ahead of slow down as well, tailgating, and many other habits that aren’t in the good driving manual.

But one thing I’ve especially noticed in the past months…going on into years…is a kind of distracted driving.  I’m not necessarily referring to texting while driving; however, that is a real issue.  I’m referring to someone driving who apparently isn’t texting or talking…is looking ahead and seems to be alert, but for whatever reason doesn’t see or doesn’t perceive a potential or real threat to his well-being.

Here are a couple of examples.  How often have you been on a multi-lane road only to have someone pass you on the left, then cross multiple lanes of traffic to the right in order to exit the road at the last second?  It’s just as if they only at the last second remembered that they needed to exit, and rushed headlong across multiple lanes in order to get to the exit barely in time.

Or what about the one whose blinker is still on a half mile or more from where he last used it.  Somehow, it didn’t occur to him or her to check it and turn it off in order to avoid confusion to other drivers.

Or maybe you were in the right hand lane at a stop light waiting to turn right on the red when the coast was clear.  The car in front of you is also waiting to turn right.  There aren’t any cars coming for a half a mile, but the car in front of you just sits there.  Finally, when the light is about 3 seconds from turning green, the driver gets the message and makes the turn.

And we’ve all been behind someone who didn’t move when the green light came…and we waited a few seconds, then honked at them to get them to move.  Much of that, I think, comes from texting while sitting at the light.

And have you ever been beside someone, both of you first in line at a light…and when it went green, the other car wouldn’t move until they saw you move first?  Try it sometime if you’re in that situation.  Often, the other car will wait for you or someone else to move first before going into the intersection.

It seems to me that people are more distracted now than they were even a few years ago.  And phones aren’t the only issue.  I think people have more on their minds and are worried or concerned about more things now than they were awhile back.  They are present in body, but often absent or at least occupied in mind.  It’s like they are going through the motions of living, but aren’t into it like they should be.

Is there a cure for that?  I don’t know.  I too have at times found myself wandering away mentally while driving or doing something else.  I think it’s normal at times.  But to see so much of it during drive time is unsettling to me.  I think something’s going on here that is bigger than just someone being pre-occupied temporarily with something.

I have no answers.  I only have observations and am not even certain my observations accurately describe in increased amount of mental and emotional distractions in the past few years.  What do you think?  What are you seeing?  What are you experiencing?  I’d really like to know.  Thanks for watching these Thursday Thoughts.  See you next week.  Blessings.