Absorbed device users oblivious to danger

[dkf]

A man standing on a crowded Muni train pulls out a .45-caliber pistol.

He raises the gun, pointing it across the aisle, before tucking it back against his side. He draws it out several more times, once using the hand holding the gun to wipe his nose. Dozens of passengers stand and sit just feet away - but none reacts.

Their eyes, focused on smartphones and tablets, don't lift until the gunman fires a bullet into the back of a San Francisco State student getting off the train.

Investigators say this scene was captured by a Muni camera on Sept. 23, the night Nikhom Thephakaysone, 30, allegedly killed 20-year-old Justin Valdez in an apparently random encounter.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Absorbed-device-users-oblivious-to-danger-4876709.php#page-1

[geek tragedy]

1. Of course, people blame the iPhones rather than the gun nt

[dkf]

2. Oh I'm sure we blame the transit camera too. Great security. Yay!

[LiberalAndProud]

3. Living virtual lives. It's what we do.

[dkf]

4. I would have been reading DU. Guilty as charged.

[Archae]

5. I'm reminded of this woman...

[Agschmid]

6. No one seemed to notice that either...

The mall near me installed huge planters around the fountains immediately after this.

[Aerows]

8. I'm reminded of that one too

That one was just plain hilarious.

[oldhippie]

11. Didn't the lady try to sue the mall?

... for letting her walk into the fountain?

I wonder how that turned out?

[Aerows]

12. She did

except now she has bigger problems than being laughed at on youtube.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fountain-falling-texter-cathy-cruz-marrero-dont-text/story?id=12685189

I don't think the lawsuit went well, but I can't find if there were any other results and since she's involved in a criminal trial (credit card theft/fraud), I'd say that's not too much of a worry anymore. She's apparently also been involved in a hit and run, too.

[HappyMe]

10. That never gets old.

[Nay]

7. On a crowded train, I would have been reading a book and been in the

same "oblivious" mindset.

I don't think any of those people who were minding their own business (whether through using a book, I-phone, tablet, newspaper, magazine, taking a nap, etc.) SHOULD be as alert or on the lookout for danger as, say, someone belaying on an ice-covered slope on Mt Hood. Come on. You have to be able to relax a bit during most of your daily experience on the train, at work, etc., or you might as well just wear an aluminum foil beanie. People are already wound too tightly -- no need to make it more so by insinuating that everybody needs to be on the lookout all the time.

Of course, when the zombie apocalypse occurs, all bets are off.

[FarCenter]

9. Supposed you noticed -- now what do you do?

The optimal strategy is to not react and calmly get off at the next stop as though you had seen nothing.