Self-care significant before selfies

A man was visiting Bangladesh recently and decided to stop for a selfie right on top of a train track. Shortly after taking it, he was instantly killed by a train. Earlier in the month, a Russian tourist in Sri Lanka leaned out of her window to take a selfie but was killed when she fell out.

Accidents involving selfies are very common because people do stupid things. They’ve fallen off buildings, slipped off the edge of mountains, fallen into lakes and been struck by vehicles. Some result in death and other serious injuries. Others still cause financial damage to property.

A woman was in a museum trying to take a selfie close to a very expensive sculpture. When she lost her balance she knocked over and damaged over US$200,000 worth of art.

Many establishments and tourist spots prohibit the use of phones in certain areas.

But what good is that if you cannot monitor it? You can’t force grown people to not take risks. In Russia they issue phone usage guidelines with every phone. Again, these are not orders but just guidelines and are about as useful as doing nothing at all. After all, you can’t make grown responsible adults be responsible for their own safety unless you confiscate their phones before they enter a dangerous tourist site. That’s not feasible and it’s not going to go down well with the public if it was enforced, even if it’s for their own good.

Phones can also cause injuries through careless carrying or simply being fixated on the screen. One injury reported by Accident and Emergency in the UK was a phone screen smashing in the back pocket of a patient when they sat down, causing serious injuries to their rear from the shards of glass. People have also been known to cut their fingertips when swiping across a cracked or broken screen. There’s repetitive strain injury from gripping the phone too tightly or from constantly swiping the screen. Did you ever notice how the tip of the finger you’re using to swipe the screen often feels numb? Or not normal anymore?

Now, people often put their phones in their back pockets and then forget they’re there. Then when they visit the privy, the phone falls into the toilet bowl. Imagine that happening to a Dh6,000 phone. It’s literally money down the toilet, plus all your photographic memories!

Whilst using phones while driving is prohibited and against the law, unless of course it’s on hands-free, people still find themselves focussing on their screen on the dashboard when using the GPS.

But pedestrians using their phones is also a problem. I’ve literally had people walk right into me because they’re not looking where they’re going; instead of looking ahead their heads are down looking at their screens. I often wonder what could be so fascinating that they can’t take their eyes off the screen for one minute.

It can’t be scrolling through cat videos on social media? And it can’t be the latest WhatsApp message, even those aren’t that rivetting. Then I notice that people are talking to other people using video calling and that’s why they’re so engrossed in their screen.

Even so, there has to be a time and place for such activity. Activities like this in public inconvenience everyone around them. With the loud talking or loud music on full blast everyone can literally hear what the conversation is about when people are talking to each other. In a normal conversation, you sometimes hear only one side of the conversation but in this case you hear both, and you see both, if they’re sitting close to you or walk past you! Does no one value their privacy anymore?

Here’s a bizarre thought and very true because it applies to every single one of us with a phone. When we’re out of our homes we really only panic on two occasions. When we suddenly can’t find our phones and when we can’t get online. That’s why many shops have a funny notice posted at their entrances to keep their customers amused. In big bold letters the notice says, ‘Keep calm, we have Wi-Fi.’