The Mobile Phone Zombies

A couple of years ago a colleague came to work panting and looking dirty. We were all curious and concerned. He sat at the gate and after catching his breath, he narrated how he was just robbed of his phone. As he walked to the office feeling good in the cool hour of the morning pressing his phone, he received a surprise kung fu kick on his back sending him prostrate in the air and landing like a bag of cement in the puddle. Immediately his phone touched the ground it was picked by the robbers on motorcycle. The only thing he saw was their back and the regret that it was avoidable.

Whether you are a fan of horror movies or not you should know about zombies. For context, let’s refresh our memories. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, a zombie is a person who seems only partly alive, without any feeling or interest in what’s happening. Another definition says a zombie is someone whose face shows no feeling, understanding or interest in what’s going on around them. And a third says zombies are not able to think. Sincerely, I do not know a more appropriate description for people who have become willing slaves to their mobile phones. This addiction has reached the level of a pandemic and public safety concern. People can no longer take their eyes off their phones as they walk or drive. This piece will not concern itself with content creation and what we do with our phones at home; that is our personal kettle of fish. Whatever is brought to the street or the public where everyone has equal right to walk and congregate must be a concern to all. Let’s look at the first category of zombies.

1. Zombie Pedestrian

Just after dusk one beautiful Sunday I walked an isolated path home. I was reliving the beautiful moments in my head of how Liverpool painted the blue sky over the Etihad red when I noticed a young lady few meters ahead. I could hear the sound of my footsteps and even the cry of the night bats but she had no idea there was someone behind her. She froze with fright when I stepped ahead of her. “Don’t be afraid”, I said. “It’s wrong of you to block your ears with an earpiece and at the same time pressing your phone on the road”, I added. She nodded in agreement. She could have been a perfect victim for criminals.

Another time I saw a child about two years old all by herself in the street. I quickly crossed the road and went to her because she was approaching the main road and there was a manhole in sight. Then I looked around and saw a young woman twenty meters behind the child pressing her phone. “Is this your child?” I asked. “Yes, I am the mother.” She replied. I had to contain my anger to speak mildly but there was fire in my eyes. As I continued my journey I said thank God she is not my wife.

2. Zombie Driver

One rainy Monday morning we were riding in the staff bus to work when suddenly we heard a loud bang accompanied by a forceful vibration. Lo and behold, it was a zombie driver who was pressing his phone and didn’t notice our break lights. His bumper fell off and his bonnet squeezed. This happened in the sight of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority officers. They helped him pushed his vehicle to the side of the road and radioed the towing van. The zombie driver willingly rode with us to the office because it was obvious to everyone he was at fault for the dent on our rear bumper. This was how he incurred avoidable expenses in three places because instead of focusing on driving, he focused on his phone.

3. Anti-social Zombies

Yes I know zombies are not social but just for emphasis. This category of mobile phone addicts is so conspicuous at social events. They brazenly display their lack of emotional and social intelligence by being fixated on their phones. They don’t give a hoot about the conversation on their table or what’s happening in the environment. Why then did they come out? They are virtually social with distant people and at the same time repulsive to the people around. Your words to them are like a golden ring on the snout of a pig, so, save your words. I recommend you even change tables.

Disadvantages of Being a Mobile Phone Zombie.

1. Personal Risks

I wouldn’t want to mention specific examples here of how some have lost their lives out of respect, they had headphones on while crossing the railway or highway. Didn’t the teacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says there is a time for everything, and a time for every activity under the heavens? 1. A time to press your phone and a time to refrain from pressing your phone. 2. A time to focus on the road and be alert to your environment and a time for screen time at home or some safe place. 3. A time to converse with your fellow humans by active listening and participation and a time to chat online. What separates man from animals is our superior brain and ability to think and organize ourselves and dominate our environment. Let us not be habitual like animals. This is one flaw of animals that empowers man to tame even the wildest beasts. Our mobile phones should not make us zombies lacking the ability to think and be the master of our fates as it was designed by God in Genesis 1:28

2. Missed Opportunities

Phone zombies first lost opportunity is a wasted day, the greatest opportunity. Other missed opportunities are due to procrastination because the mobile phone was designed for maximum addiction. It has the effect of hard drugs like opium. It makes you keep putting to later what you should do right now until it’s too late. They fail to realize that by procrastinating they lose opportunity at the speed of the earth’s rotation of approximately 1,670km/h which is faster than the fastest car with a speed of 531km/h, and faster than the fastest animal with a speed of 386km/h.

Conclusion

What’s the merit of seeing a dysfunction without proffering solution? Right now I can only think of two: one is for these categories of mobile phone addicts to adopt a lifestyle of personal discipline. The second, I would have recommended a mandatory fine enforced by the police but it would turn to something else, so, the government at all levels and communities should create awareness and educate the public about the dangers of being a mobile phone zombie.