Friday, October 21, 2011

Just because you can

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

I was on the bus today and a well dressed seemingly affluent guy got on. He was probably in his mid to late 30's. He had a brief case and a tablet computer or some other bit of electronica that I am unfamiliar with. It was thin and had a bright clear screen and was about 14 inches in width. He was successful in getting a seat up front in the priority seating area on the very full standing room only bus and proceeded to plug into it and watch a movie. Now the route through downtown from beginning to end-that's suburb to suburb , on a good day, takes 90 minutes. He got on midway. At most he may have had 45 minutes on the bus. Other riders getting on had to step around his briefcase as he couldn't hold onto it with the device on his lap and he was oblivious to the obstacle he had created and not engaged with the people struggling past him because he was plugged into a headset. Those beside him could not help but be drawn in by the images and those overhanging him had nowhere else to look.
I can undertand using a device like this on a plan or a commuter train or for a longer trip but not for a short ride on a busy crowded city bus.

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