Are You A "Smombie"?

VOCABULARY

I was walking along the Getreidegasse the other day, thoroughly enjoying the fact that I had some time on my hands and could do a bit of window shopping in Salzburg’s most beautiful pedestrian zone. As it was a holiday in Germany (Reformation Day) the street was absolutely packed with tourists. This had slipped my mind, otherwise I would have postponed my shopping trip to another day. Anyway, needless to say, it was almost impossible to get near to a shop window, let alone stand there for long to admire the winter fashions. It didn’t take me long to come to the conclusion that I had to leave the city as soon as possible and I headed for the nearest side street.

I must admit, I wasn’t in the best of moods when two young girls came towards me with their heads bent over their mobile phones. Many people just stepped to the side and let the girls go by and, under normal circumstances, I would have done the same. However, on this particular day, I decided to wait and see what would happen, if I didn’t step aside and forced the girls to look up from their texts to notice that they weren’t alone on the street. I know I sound like an old fuddy-duddy but I am honestly getting fed up with this situation and I am not alone. When one of the girls realised that there was someone stationary in front of her, who wasn’t going to move to the side, she looked up; glared at me, tut-tutted and walked around me. I knew that an apology was too much to expect, but I find this kind of rudeness unbearable.

Of course, this is something that is happening all over the world, as people become more and more addicted to their phones. In some cases it has ended up fatal, when someone has been crossing the road, totally absorbed in their phone, and been hit by a car. That is why I was delighted to read, in Tuesday’s edition of the "Salzburger Nachrichten" (what else?) that I am not alone when getting angry at such rude people. Last Monday, two trumpet players and one accordion player were standing at the crossing of the Linzergasse, (which would also be one of my favourite pedestrian zones, if they could stop the crazy cyclists speeding down the street). They noticed that every fifth person, who was using this zebra crossing, was staring into their phone and totally distracted. The trio came up behind each mobile phone user and played their instruments loudly, while pointing at posters that read: Look after yourself, not at your phone! Huge airbags had also been wrapped around the poles of the street lights with the words: Will the next car be as padded?

A brilliant idea, but not strict enough; the following day, I noticed that nothing had changed and phone users were still completely oblivious to their environment when using the same crossing. So, what is the answer? Some countries have introduced special lanes marked with a red line or traffic lights on the ground, for Smartphone users who are affectionately called "Smombies". But that is just ridiculous. It is better in Hawaii where you can get a fine of up to €100.

If these tactics don’t work, I think that I have found the answer. In July, on a beautiful summer’s day, I was sitting in the "Triangel" restaurant, opposite the Festival Hall. I spent a very interesting afternoon watching people, with their heads buried in their phones, walk through a huge pile of fresh horse droppings, because they were totally unaware of what was going on around them. As they screamed in horror as the warm mush seeped through their open sandals, I thought that this could be the solution and we have enough horse-droppings in Salzburg to supply other countries too. addicted – süchtig, abhängig thoroughly – gründlich window shopping – Schaufensterbummel pedestrian zone – Fußgängerzone packed – vollgestopft it slipped my mind – es ist mir entgangen to postpone – verschieben let alone – geschweige denn to admire – bewundern conclusion – Schlussfolgerung in the best of moods – in guter Laune bent over – vornübergebeugt circumstances – Umstände to notice – bemerken old fuddy-duddy – altmodischer Mensch fed up with sth. – genug haben stationary – stehend to glare at sbd. – jmd. zornig anstarren to tut-tut at sbd. – über jmd. spötteln apology – Entschuldigung rudeness – Unhöflichkeit unbearable – unerträglich to end up fatal – tödlich enden absorbed – vertieft delighted – entzückt angry – zornig to speed – rasen to stare – starren distracted – abgelenkt wrapped around – herumgewickelt padded – gepolstert oblivious to – sich nicht bewusst sein environment– Umgebung affectionately – liebevoll ridiculous – lächerlich buried – vergraben horse droppings – Pferdeäpfel to seep through– durchsickern to supply – versorgen