he called the hospital, her sister's house, and the place that does her hair*

I can hardly wait for the day it becomes illegal for Tennesseans to use a cell phone while driving. Everyone thinks they can talk and drive just fine. Well, 95% of everyone is wrong. You cannot drive and talk at the same time, primarily because you are already driving and eating, applying makeup, changing a cd, writing a note, reading the paper, reading a billboard, and smacking a kid in the backseat. The combination of said activities causes you to stray over the white lines of your lane, run red lights, drive slowly, cut people off, and generally screw up the flow of traffic. Unless your phone call is regarding a missing child, a burning building, or national security, it can wait the thirty minutes until you arrive in your parking spot at work or home. And when I honk at your car for consistently driving halfway in your lane and halfway in mine, do not give me a nasty look and yell obscenities. That is rude and ridiculous. And dangerous - remember that people have been shot for that.

I hate being the person on the other end of the line when you call me from the road. You aren't paying attention to what I am saying, or what you are saying, for that matter. Trust me, you aren't. You are paying attention to where you are headed and who you are meeting there instead of what I might need to tell you or need from you during the conversation.

I am not saying that I never ever ever talk on the phone while driving. But I know that I am less aware of other drivers when I do and I am not engaged in the conversation anyway. So I shouldn't. From now on, I am going to restrict my calls from the road to matters of missing children, burning buildings, or national security.


* "phones are ringing" by martina mcbride