Thursday, May 17, 2012

New definition of J-walking

I heard on the radio that there is an increased number of people who walk and text that are getting in major accidents. One example that they quoted was falling down a manhole. I suppose walking into a parked car, tree or fence is also a possibility.  I didn't here where (sorry) but police are beginning to use J-walking laws to give people tickets for walking while texting.  Others are simply giving people tickets for "careless walking."

According to Ask Yahoo J-walking comes from a slang.  In the early 1900's a "jay" was a person that was a hick, rube, or simpleton.  A person that was not accustomed to walking around the new invention of "cars".  A jaywalker was a newcomer to the city, green to the ways of those modern traffic signals that told folks when they could safely cross the road.

The new version of J-walker will be a person walking - anywhere with a cell phone in hand and typing ...from hick to over-tech.


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