Saturday, March 19, 2016

PSA: Safety First



Everyone’s doing it. You feel the pressure. You want to too. Just to be like the cool kids. Only the majority of people don’t do it wisely. Even the adults who do it. They take great risks exposing themselves without thinking about safety precautions. Adults should know better. But they might be some of the worst culprits. They should be the role models for the tweens, teens, and young adults who experiment with this latest trend. Everyone should be practicing safe methods of this seemingly more common past time. I do!

In fact, I ONLY do it with my husband. Very rarely do I venture outside of safe and secure confines of my marriage. Usually, it’s from the office, because when I am actually WITH him, there is no need to text him. In 2015, more people died from this unsafe ritual than shark attacks. It’s embarrassing that people would rather risk their lives for a moment of glory. Sure, it will be memorialized forever, if it turned out, but is it worth losing your life? I encourage everyone to start practicing #safeselfies.

Are you on a road or sidewalk or skyway where there is continuous traffic? Then it’s probably not a good idea to stop, oblivious to the world around you, to grab a shot of your mug with whatever background you desire. Even if the most damage you get is a shoulder check from an angry downtown worker who knows the skyway is as treacherous as a freeway and there is no stopping in the middle of the road, what it worth the bruise?

Are you attempting a yoga pose on the edge of a cliff? Sure, you are a yogi-head, you go to yoga three to four times a week and have an awesome balance. Just step four giant scissor steps closer to inland. It may not look as cool, but you will probably still get a great shot of the skyline behind you and maybe even the deep drop down the ravine, plus your face is taking up most of the shot anyway.


Yeah, the work day selfies I send to my husband aren’t glitter and glamour. The half moons under my eyes aren’t alluring like the black liner and duck lips of some selfies. The piles of folders and notepads towering toward the ceiling aren’t as cool as a back drop of mountains or a sea sharing the sleepy sun with the sky for a few more moments before it slips away and spills darkness, but at least I know that death will not be a side effect of my #safeselfie.