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.