Dear Ma'am,

I saw you as you walked out of the store with your small child in the buggy. Everyone saw you, actually. We saw you walk across the parking lot, head buried in your phone, never looking to see if you were stepping in front of moving traffic. We saw you step in front of that car, causing them to slam on their brakes. You never saw them.

We heard the child asking you question after question, and your simple head nod or "mmhmmm", never really acknowledging the questions, just staying glued to your phone.

We saw you - somewhat impressively - get your kid out of the buggy and into their car-seat with one arm, all while staring intently into your phone screen. We saw your child reach out for a hug or some embrace, neither of which happened because your cellular device was more important.

We saw you get in the car and initiate a phone call, and when your child tried to talk to you, we saw you turn the phone volume up. We also saw you fly out of the parking lot much too quickly to beat that yellow light...that you didn't beat, by the way.

Ma'am, I don't know what was so important on that phone, but I can't imagine that it was quite as important as the focus that you put into it.

If you're reading this, I just wanted you to know that I saw you. Everyone saw you.


The Concerned Person In The Parking Lot