Walking/Talking on the phone IN and OUT of uniform.

In uniform wrong, out of uniform off duty, none of my damn business.

I managed to walk and talk on a radio in uniform while in contact and still manage to direct fire. I assume you can manage to walk and talk while wearing a polo shirt without ending western civilization.

If you're off duty and out of uniform there is no need to be corrected for talking and walking on the phone!  

SPC Toombes,<div><br></div><div>I am sure you were corrected because -</div><div><br></div><div>1) Military member in civilian clothes but we can all pick each other out even out of uniform.</div><div>2) Talking on a cell phone while walking.</div><div><br></div><div>--WAIT FOR IT--</div><div><br></div><div>3) You were not wearing your PT belt while doing it!</div><div><br></div><div>Ok all joking aside - unless it is in a local policy letter you did nothing wrong. One thing I like to do it quote regulation when correcting a Soldier. That way they know it isn't one of my "isms" but an actual rule in a regulation or policy.</div>

In this scenario, take it with a grain of salt. Don't get too caught up on the way they "corrected" you. Instead, put your nose into local policies and inform yourself. Once you have an answer, share the wealth.

Texting can be scarier!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXYY_ep5Nh0

OKay....

Here's my take on this...

I'm sure everyone THINKS they are prefectly capable of walking and talking at the same time. Most of us manage it quite well. Based on my research there's a mix of regs - all depending on the service. Some of the regs make sense - some...not so much. I don't even want to discuss the vague ones......

What I have a concern about is the fact that there are a lot of people that don't realize how little they are actually paying attention to traffic (foot and vehicle) around them while they're talking on the phone. It doesn't matter whether you're holding the phone up to your ear or using bluetooth - for some reason we just can't walk and talk on the phone and still manage our situational awareness. The statistics get worse when you add texting to the mix. Just last week I watched not one, not two, but over 25 officers (I quit counting after 25) on a major joint base walking around with a phone attached to their ears and every single one of them was so engrossed in their extremely important conversations they could not watch the vehicle traffic around them - 8 of them either hit a traffic cone or had to make some sort of dramatic manuever to avoid.

Now, I'm not a safety nazi - but stupid is as stupid does. Trust me, there was not one conversation those 25 officers had that was life threatening or end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it. NOT one. So for me, it just doesn't make sense - unless it's a life or death situation.

Now as for being off duty, out of uniform, hell, I still can't think of any conversation (other than life or death) that we NEED to walk and talk on the phone at the same time...just can't think of one that is that important. I know I'm being picky but the statistics between walking/talking on the phone and walking/texting on the phone and the accidents caused by same are just not impressive at all. Oh the numbers are impressive, but as far as showing that we, as humans, are truely good at multitasking - not so much......

While I am not confrontational I can see the point of the criticism.&nbsp;&nbsp; I also believe tact is a strong leadership skill and will garner more acceptance than brow-beating and hectoring.

In all seriousness though, when I've spent an extended period of time on AD for deployments or schools and I've gotten into the no cell phone/smoking while walking things and staying off the grass... then I go back to the civilian world.. I always feel like I'm doing something wrong. There have been times that I've stopped to smoke or tried to go the long way around the grass and people I've been with have been like "WTH are you doing dude?"