Woman taking her phone for a walk this morning

[SmellyToilet]

Just got back from walking the dog. At one point a woman emerged with her face buried in her phone … she also had a little dog on a retractable lead wandering around behind her. I was walking behind this woman for 20 minutes and I swear to god she never once looked up from her phone in all this time. She didn’t interact with nor even look at her dog once. The dog was more interested in us than her and as it was on a retractable lead it kept walking back towards us … this woman had literally no idea that her dog was bothering a fellow dog Walker (with a reactive dog). The dog had a shit, she didn’t notice. I honestly believe that if I’d gone to the dog, unclipped it’s lead and stole it she wouldn’t have even noticed until she got home.

What’s the point??!! AIBU to have been hoping she accidentally stood in a huge pile of horse shit so she actually started to pay attention to her surroundings?

None of your business except for the dog poop and I never chat when out walking alone or with my dog as that is my time for head space and to relax but would not be bothered what anyone else does either as usually in my own world.

On the threads where people are told not to worry about how they look etc because more often than not people are not even noticing I always think it's trite. People are actually quite 'invested' in others. A woman was craining her neck on the bus earlier last week to read the text I was sending. There's another thread about a couple who didn't exchange a single word at dinner. Apart from the poo then I can't say she's been unreasonable. Even if it was a baby in a pram - that's just one snapshot of someone's life. I really dislike being out and about sometimes for this very reason.

I've seen people so engrossed in their mobiles that they don't even look where they're going.,
I used to try and avoid them or swerve out of the way. but I've got so fed up with doing that, I now let them walk into me so they look stupid🙄

The dog doesn’t care, the dog is enjoying its one taste of freedom that day where it’s not cramped up in a human house forced to live with humans at their will. It’s a dog, not a baby!!

"Pram pushers"..... I just get a feeling this turn of phrase hasn't been used to be inclusive, but to be insulting. ☹
Next up literacy lesson is "how to use vitriol in a sentence".

Other peoples lives don’t revolve around your convenience.

Well I don't expect people to time when they go shopping so I'm not troubled by their presence but not picking up your dog's shit is grossly inconvenient for anyone who steps in it or pushes a pram through it and then into their house. Hope that helps to clarify the type of consideration I think we owe other people.

Nothing wrong with my blood pressure, knowing what is reasonable and considerate behaviour towards others means my life is peaceful and conflict free but thanks for your concern about my health.

You are not relieved of responsibility just because you are dealing with a stressful life event. Speeding on your way to the hospital because you received an emergency call about a family member would not be an adequate excuse for endangering other road users however much people would empathise with the situation.

Let's stop pretending that everyone absorbed by their phone is doing so because they are dealing with something very important, some will be but most aren't.

She could have just had news of a death? Been going through a break up? Having a family drama? You don’t know. The dog poo thing is bad though. Otherwise you shouldn’t really judge people. The likelihood is though, she’s probably just addicted to her phone, granted!

I used to look at my phone all the time when pushing my pram. It was the most relaxing time of day in my relentless, lonely, mastitis-ridden life at the time. Maybe this poor dog walker has things going on that you are not aware of, what with not knowing her?

I never look at my phone and like to be aware of those coming to towards and behind as I have two small dogs, one of which on a retractable lead. As you say, what’s the bloody point if you have your head buried in your phone? And missing picking up a poo is par for the course for those sort of owners.

It’s a difficult one because normally it is just someone caught up on their phone rather than their actions and pretty much everyone does it occasionally, some more than others I’m sure, but sometimes there’s a reason for it. Once I was at the park with my kids and kept looking at my phone and someone told me off and said they could’ve snatched my kids without me knowing. (I mean it wasn’t like I was staring point blank at the phone and not looking up to check the kids and we also knew three other sets of parents and kids in the park as it was right near our house) imagine the horror on the old grandmother’s face her I looked up at her tears all down my face because my cousin had died and I had wanted the kids to play and be distracted while I was falling apart and trying to get updates to and from family members.

Although that isn’t to say that I’ve never been more caught up in my phone than my surroundings for no reason at all because I’ve definitely done it a time or two.

Goodness you must have been so absorbed in her to know she didn’t look up for 20 minutes.

Instead of interacting with your dog or appreciating the world around you.

Shame.

Maybe is was her work? Hospital? Hysterical teen just been dumped? Nanny quitting? Whatever…None if your business although you could have alerted her to the loo unless (as I suspect) you just put that in for good measure as she would have notice the dog stop even on a retractable.
totally none of your business.

Maybe is was her work? Hospital? Hysterical teen just been dumped? Nanny quitting? Whatever…

This.

We forget that people’s lives are organised massively via phones. On my phone I do:

• Appointments for all the family, including e-consultations with the GP


• the weekly


• Organising trips and holidays


• orgabising play dates and parties for the kids

Not so much now lockdowns are over but for a long time I worked from home but would do things when on the school run etc, such as w checking or proof reading. Women aren’t always browsing selfies on Instagram, some of us are doing important things

Does no-one care that being absorbed in your phone whilst walking is unsafe?

These are all things I have personally seen happen when walking to work, because people aren't paying attention to their surroundings because they're too engrossed in their screen:

• people stepping into the road in front of buses and bikes (thank god they didn't have a pram in front of them)
• people falling down stairs because they didn't see the top step
• people stumbling and falling because they didn't realise they were walking right on top of the curb
• people walking into bins, sign boards etc
• people walking into other people
• dropping their phone and breaking it because they've walked into something
• phones being snatched from people who had no chance of seeing the mugger
• phones being dropped onto tube tracks, causing delays. This one actually happened just last night at st pancras!
• people just stopping (in the middle of the pavement, halfway up crowded stairs or at the top of escalators) because they're busy replying to a message

Seriously, if you're walking, put your phone away. If you need to be on it, stop and move to one side / somewhere safe and out of the way before doing your emails / messages.

Walking around whilst on your phone is not safe.

The not picking up dog poo is a no no, but as for her dog bothering you, why didn't you wait and let her get ahead of you, or overtake her, or take a different route? I often make phone calls while walking my dog. It's a good use of time to catch up with my mother etc. However I'm always aware of where my dog is and what she's doing. My dog is now elderly and deaf so talking to her is a bit pointless, but I do point at squirrels and endlessly throw sticks for her, all while chatting on the phone or listening to podcasts. I'm sure my dog doesn't take it personally.

None of that is an excuse for not picking up dog shit!

I didn’t say it was, did I 🙄

my post was in response to the obtuse comments asking why people are so engrossed in their phones these days.

Also ‘the weekly’ should have been ‘the weekly shop’ 🤦🏼‍♀️

This!

How did she not notice it pooing? Dogs don't shit as they walk, they stop, sniff, get into position, and drop anchor. She must have been aware enough to stop walking while the dog shat.

or where they are going and nearly collide with you.

Put the bloody thing down and concentrate.

She didn’t notice it shitting because as I’ve said, it was on a long retractable lead dawdling along behind her. She was walking slowly (presumably as she couldn’t actually see where she was going!) and the dog stopped, sniffed, squatted and shat as she carried on walking. The dog then finished shitting and carried on walking. She was none the wiser.

You must have been walking at a really uncomfortably slow pace to have stayed behind her for 20 minutes. That's not going to do much for your dogs training.

It was a great training opportunity actually. 1) Practicing walking at heel at a slow pace
2) rewarding her for looking at me rather than the dog in front
3) practicing turning away from distractions and walking in the opposite direction
4) practice basic commands in the presence of another dog (sit, down, stand, walk backwards etc)

See, I actually interact with my dog on walks

@SmellyToilet well done, gold sticker for you.