Can Cell Phones Kill?
By: Tony Walker
As one of the few people left in the civilized (?) world who doesn't own a cell phone, I read the newspaper reports about the possibility that cell phones cause brain cancer with equanimity. However, there is a real threat to life and limb that's caused by cell phone users.
We've all seen reports of accidents being caused by drivers who were so involved in their phone conversations that they missed seeing the eighteen-wheeler that had suddenly stopped in front of them, or have almost been hit in a parking lot by someone who was trying to steer with one hand, while carrying on a conversation on the phone.
I'm not talking about occurrences like these, however. What I am talking about is how having a cell phone conversation can drop you straight into Condition White, and into possibly life-threatening situations. Most of you will know about the Color Codes of Consciousness, devised by the late Jeff Cooper. These begin with White, a state of total unawareness, followed by Yellow, a state of relaxed alertness -- and you should always be in that particular condition. You move into Orange when a possible threat is perceived, and Red is the state achieved when you realize it's time for flight or a fight.
When you own a cell phone and it rings, chimes, vibrates, or even plays a short extract from a Beethoven symphony, you answer it. Then, because there's a voice at the other end talking to you, you do what all humans do: you listen. While you are listening, the caller generally has your full attention, which immediately takes you out of your normal (I hope) Condition Yellow, and drops you into Condition White, a state that should only be reached when you are safe somewhere, asleep, in a hypnotic trance, under anesthesia, or, in more extreme cases, dead.
While you are happily chattering mindless inanities into the phone -- "Yeah, it's me. Are you OK? I'm fine. I'm just going to meet my wife/husband/lover/friend/ at the mall/bar/golf course/restaurant." You've all overheard conversations like these, and maybe participated in them. Have you ever realized how vulnerable you are when one hand is holding the phone, and you are concentrating hard on trying to hear what the caller is saying?
I tried an experiment with a friend of mine recently. My wife Vannessa (the Amazon Queen) and I met a friend of ours for lunch, and I had asked my wife before meeting him to go to the ladies room and call him while we were eating. She excused herself, and I carried on the conversation until his phone rang. He immediately grabbed it and listened intently as my wife spoke in a garbled German accent. While he was talking, I stood up and made a vague gesture towards the men's room, but instead, I looped round behind him and stood there as he listened.
It took him at least thirty seconds to realize that I was standing behind him, and I finally tapped him on the shoulder and said quietly, "bang, bang, you're dead." As he turned round to see me, I could see the "Duh, you got me," expression on his face. When my wife returned, we discussed what we'd done, and our friend admitted that while he was trying to comprehend what Vannessa was saying, he was totally focused on her voice, to the exclusion of everything else.
I'm not saying you should stop using your phone, but if you do get a call when you're out of the house and out of your vehicle, keep scanning the area for possible threats. Keep your back to a wall if possible, and don't do what many people seem to do: look at the ground while you're on the phone. The ground isn't a threat to you: the people you don't see are the threats.
So, if you own a cell phone, be warned. Using it can get you killed.
Tony Walker is the author of the critically-acclaimed book How to Win a Gunfight, and he also wrote Snides, the action thriller that introduced ex-SAS trooper John Pilgrim and his swift-shooting wife Sally. The new John and Sally Pilgrim novel, Pilgrim's Banner, has been published. Find more information on Tony Walker's website at
www.johnpilgrimbooks.com.
