So. A teen girl is walking along a sidewalk, blithely texting — and therefore not paying the slightest attention to where she’s walking. (You just know this isn’t going to end well… right?)
I have a perfect visual, since one of Adorable Child’s friends walked into a tree last year doing exactly this. She, at least, didn’t blame the tree (my emphasis).
Alexa Longueira, a high school sophomore, was walking along Victory Boulevard near Travis Avenue on Staten Island Wednesday evening when she felt the earth move and was plunged into smelly darkness.
She said the manhole she fell in to was left open and unattended with no warning signs or orange cones. She said two workers with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection failed to secure the area as they prepared to flush the sewer.
“It was just really gross and it was shocking and scary,” she said. “Because of their careless mistake I got hurt.“
Ummmm…. no. That’s not quite how that goes.
But wait, there’s more:
The Longueira family wants more than get well wishes. They may sue. Alexa’s mother, Kim, said: “It could have been an elderly person, a mother pushing a stroller. It could have been anyone.”
They may sue? Really?!?
The only way it would have been an elderly person or a stroller-pushing mom is if they, too, had been texting…. and that’s one I don’t visualize. Sorry.
Put the danged phone away and pay attention to where you’re going, kids! Life’s full of hazards.
(via memeorandum)