Over thirty years ago, a friend (now, sadly, no longer with us) peered into the future and decided to act out what he'd seen. He had a long antenna which he attached to the back of his bicycle. He affixed a Princess telephone to his rear luggage rack. Then he rode up Connecticut Avenue in Washington during rush hour, acted as if the phone was ringing, answered it, and talked to his imaginary friend while pedalling slightly faster than the surrounding cars. He reported that several drivers nearly hit him as they stared, fascinated by an idea that they never could have imagined.
Fast forward to today. I was driving along a fairly narrow numbered route frequented by bicyclists. I was caught in a minor version of rush hour traffic, when I noticed that the slowish car a few positions away was trying to pass a cyclist. As each car passed and I got closer, I noticed that the cyclist was sitting up, but slightly hunched over. I assumed he was taking a sip of water and would soon dip down to cycling position when it was my turn to pass. I glanced over and realized that he was engaged in a cell phone conversation. Yikes! And we thought driving a car and talking was dangerous! Needless to say, I quickly got out of his way.
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