In every article I write that's critical of certain behaviors or characteristics of other people, I try my very best to make sure to be considerate of other people's views. Too often in my past I have jumped to some pretty wild conclusions about people when my understanding of the situation at hand wasn't based on a fully-formed picture of all the facts.
I try to understand. I really do, but there are no two ways about this one: If you text and drive, you're a terrible human being.
If you check your Facebook while you're driving, you're a bad person.
If you "just have to send a snap real quick" while you're driving, you're a garbage fire of a person.
There just is no argument in this case.
I don't care if you contribute all of your excess finances to orphanages and spend all your free time bottle-feeding abandoned ducklings.
You can have 87 well-cared-for rescue dogs for whom there would be no better owner.
You can volunteer at an old folks' home, read to illiterate children in third-world countries, and donate your life savings on your deathbed to urban youth who otherwise can't afford to go to college.
You can do all of these things and more, but the second you decide your text, your selfie, your status update, your tweet is more important than anyone else on the road, you've solidified your status as trash and nothing more.
Because texting and driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving.
Because nine people are killed and over 1,000 people are injured EVERY DAY by someone who is texting and driving.
Because you couldn't wait until you were parked or until you got home. Your stupid, narcissistic selfie is worth a life, right?
That funny license plate in front of you is worth sending a snap while simultaneously plowing into the rear end of the car its on, right?
Your status update can't wait. Oh no, the 10-15 minutes left on your drive will surely make you forget what you wanted to say, so you have to post it NOW.
I have a lot of strong opinions and a lot of pie in the sky ideas on how to resolve so many problems, but this one is something I'm dead serious about.
If your phone takes precedence in your mind over the lives of your fellow human beings, you don't deserve anything good in this world. You don't deserve your friends. You don't deserve your family. You don't deserve a loving partner or kids or pets. You don't deserve a job or a livelihood or general well-being, because you're happy to take those things away from other people if it means you don't have to be inconvenienced by just...waiting.
To hell with all of you.
