There are a minimum of three sign wavers dancing along the stretch of Yosemite Avenue sidewalk I use to jog home from In Shape.
Most are attentive. That wasn’t the case, though, Friday.
As I crossed Spreckels Avenue there was a sign waver straight ahead with his back to me dancing back and forth across the sidewalk as he shook his sign. As I got closer I noted earphones. As he started moving toward Del Taco with his back to me, I went to the curb. Suddenly he started backing up. I yelled “whoa” and he still kept coming toward me. At the last second I ducked and extended my arms in front of me in case he hit me with the sign as I passed.
He was still backing up - apparently oblivious to the fact someone might actually be using the sidewalk - as I passed and straightened up.
There was no malice but there was a severe disconnect to the fact a public sidewalk is just that - something that is being used by the public and not just you.
The encounter didn’t really irk me. On a scale of 1 to 10 of oblivious behavior toward pedestrians in Manteca it barely registered. I save my frustrations for drivers running red lights as they are holding cell phones to their ears when I’m smack dab in front of them in a crosswalk
I am, however a bit concerned about a growing trend - people walking around texting with iPods plugged into their ear presumably with the music high enough that they can’t hear what’s around them.
The worst that could have happened on Friday had I collided with the young man was for both of us to perhaps be stunned and maybe bruised.
That unfortunately isn’t the case when iPod-wearing folks - almost always young people - wandering along or across train tracks.
In the East Bay in the past several months authorities have confirmed that young people struck and killed by trains were apparently had iPods or other portable music devices plugged into their ear.
If that was the case, it is safe to assume they were listening to mellow Andy Williams music nor was the volume down low. It is doubtful they could hear anything short of a full-scale nuclear bomb blast above the music pounding in their ear.
One particular spot has had two teen-age fatalities in the past year where a boy last month was killed was walking along the tracks oblivious to the approaching train, repeated blasts on the horn or the ear-pierching sound of screeching train brakes.
Naturally, everyone wants to blame the tragedy on someone besides the teen. They inadvertently tell TV reporters that something is wrong and something must be done.
They’re right. But the government and the railroad aren’t the ones that need to do something.
It’s them. If they’re parents, they need to implore that their kids first and foremost don’t trespass on private property. Railroad tracks, contrary to popular belief, are not a part of the public domain.
Almost as important is the need for people with iPods and other such devices plugged into their ears to be walking round oblivious to others and the world around them.
The worst example was last month in downtown Modesto where a teen with iPod in ear was walking against a red light across a busy street texting.
Instant communication and the ability to listen to music, watch videos, and do other such things anyplace and anywhere as long as you have a connection are turning a number of young people into high tech zombies.
It is a condition that can have deadly consequences for them.
And instead of trying to blame others when bad things happen to them while they are in their oblivious induced catatonic state via portable technology they need to - in language they’d understand - take iResponsibility.
This column is the opinion of managing editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209-249-3519.
