Monday, September 08, 2008

Sweet Oblivion

The student told police she was walking alone to her car in the first floor of the college's two-story parking structure at 6:45 p.m. Friday when the attack occurred. She was listening to an MP3 player.
Hey, now, that seems like a good idea...

5 comments:

SamenoKami said...

All these young people w/the earphones and music, no awareness of the situation/surroundings, thinking nothing can happen gives me the creeps. She would have been no better off armed - she wasn't paying attention.

triptyx said...

I used to walk my dog along a path by the Rillito wash in Tucson, AZ (I have since moved). The path was quite nice, very scenic, and a wonderful place to walk the dog. As with any other public, semi-remote area, it was also known relatively frequently for rapes, muggings, etc.

I used to marvel at the number of young women, many high school and college aged (and older women as well) that would be walking along, MP3 player blasting, head locked firmly forward - oblivious to their surroundings. I'd occasionally test how close I could get (I was almost always walking fast than them - cattle dogs tend to like a fast clip) without them turning around and noticing me.

Bear in mind, I wasn't being stealthy. The dog was panting and her collar jingling, my footfalls were pretty loud since I was walking at a good clip. I just about always was passing them before they even knew I was there.

They really need to teach awareness in schools at a reasonably early age. It won't make everyone sit up and pay attention, but maybe it would help some of them.

Anonymous said...

Don't expect government "schools" to teach anything remotely like self reliance or independent thinking.

There are only two ways most people learn this lesson: parents or hard experience... if they survive.

Anonymous said...

They've been taught to fear the sound of their own thoughts. Music keeps consciousness, mindfulness, at bay.
When my granddaughter got her driver's license, the judge told her and her fellow licensees that he personally knew three teenagers who were killed in crashes as they were distracted fiddling with the car sound system. It's become THAT important not to have a moment of peaceful reflexion, concentration...

Anonymous said...

"only Iraqi soldiers and governmentsecurity guards will be allowed to have weapons". Sounds a lot like New Orleans.