OPINION: Hey Alaska travelers, stay off your dang phones

Some people are able to enjoy the scenery, the sights and sounds of the world around them, focusing on what makes them feel happy. Good for them.

As much as I try to do the same, when I walk around I can’t help but notice people doing dumb things with their smartphones. They are in my sights and intrude upon my sounds. They stand out like a sore thumb, literally, from too many swipes across the face of the device that has taken over their lives.

Of course, I have a recent example.

I was walking through a crowded concourse at Sea-Tac Airport last week, with travelers rushing to connecting flights or maybe just to get to the head of the line at Starbucks. The concourse was packed tight by a steady flow of people with their roller bags, generally following the protocols of traffic control: Stay in your lane and look before you turn.

But one traveler stopped in the middle of traffic to do something on her phone. I’m not sure what. Maybe she needed to order a ride, order lunch or give orders to her children. Maybe she needed to answer a work email or share her Wordle answers with a friend.

Whatever the reason, she created an obstacle in the middle of the road. She did not turn on her hazard flashers, did not set out safety cones or flares — though I suppose flares are illegal in airports. She just stood still, oblivious to the world, similar to drivers who are too busy on their phone to notice that the stoplight turned green.

She was driving her smartphone without paying attention, one of many people who treat their phones as the most important thing in their world, demanding immediate attention.

A boss once told me not to talk about a problem unless I have a solution. So here’s my solution: Just as states have “Rules of the Road” and require a driver’s test before letting someone out on the streets, so too should states adopt “Rules of the Smartphone Road.” No federal law, that would be political overreach — and we certainly don’t like that in Alaska.

Nothing excessive, mind you. Not the 94-page drivers manual on the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles website. Or the 25-minute online “Know-to-Drive” tutorial and questions also on the website. Both are far too long for most smartphone users who expect the world’s entire history to be condensed into a two-minute YouTube video.

Keep it simple, keep it visual, but require that a user must at least scroll through the “Rules of the Smartphone Road” and click “I understand” at each step before unlocking their new phone. And maybe program in a reminder screen on the phone every month.

The rules should cover the obvious: Stay off the phone while navigating a crowded parking lot, and never have the phone in your face when turning through an intersection. The rules also could include: No conversations about last night’s date while standing in line with other customers; no speaker phone calls with your colonoscopy doctor while someone nearby is eating their lunch; and no setting your phone on the dinner table face-up for all to see just how many messages you get.

This isn’t about regulation or prying the phone out of your hands. I am not questioning your Second Amendment right to carry a concealed phone or your First Amendment right to speak freely into a $1,000 box of glass and metal.

This is about keeping it in your face and space, not mine.

Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist, with breaks for federal, state and municipal service in oil and gas, taxes and fiscal policy work. He lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper. He misses his flip phone.

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