I have this real bad habit of forgetting to lock my Blackberry keypad before I stick it into my pocket. This morning, as I was rushing to the city for lunch with a friend I did it again.
I hopped in my car and made my same illegal u-turn in front of my house. That's when my pocket starting ringing. I completed the arc and picked up.
"This is the police. Are you all right?"
I looked around. No cops in sight. Maybe this was joke. Maybe not. 'Are you all right is a funny question."
"Why do you ask," I responded.
"You just dialed 911. Are you all right? Do you need help."
I explained in vague terms that I had just butt-dialed 911, then managed to butt-disconnect as well. I apologized. The officer on the phone was very nice and we disconnected. As I drove to San Francisco, I started feeling very good about the incident. It's nice to know that the police are that fast and responsive. It's nice to hope that a loved one can reach police that quickly and that is a wonderful thing about the phone.
In the city, I was walking down Filbert Street. Against a building there were two men, apparently talking to no one in particular. I wondered if they were actually conversing with each other. As I got closer I realized one was a businessperson talking via Bluetooth to a colleague. The other, was a homeless guy responding to voices that no one else on Earth could hear.
They both look a good deal alike.
I'm not sure this post has a point. But as is obvious, I am very interested these days in technology and culture. Some times it's the little oddities that catch my attention.
