I was listening to NPR on my way home yesterday and I heard the most interesting observation. It was a listener’s comment on a previous story about cell phones, and their impact on society. The listener was a blind man, and he commented that the use of cell phones in public has lead to some confused blind folks. Prior to cell phones, a blind person could safely assume someone was talking to them, if that person was in close proximity and loudly said, “HI! HOW ARE YOU DOING?”
You see, blind people and cell phones have something in common – people tend to speak really loud when talking to them. Now, what once was a clue that someone was talking to them has been taken away. The obvious question arises: have cell phones made blind people more aloof in public?
I’m not advocating banning cell phone use. I’m not suggesting this is one more example of the decline of western civilization. It’s just something I never would have thought of, from the point of view of someone living a completely different life than mine. It’s funny how things can affect our lives and the lives of others, in ways we never could have possibly conceived (at least I couldn’t, anyway).