Ordinary Gweilo

It was said of President Gerald Ford that he couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

Now, admittedly having a conversation on your mobile phone is slightly more complex than chewing gum, but it’s not really that difficult, is it?  So how come it is apparently such a challenge for so many people to walk along in a straight line at a constant speed whilst engaging in a conversation on their mobile phone? 

Admittedly most of my mobile phone conversations go something like this:

"Hello"

"I’m near (name of station)."

"About 30 minutes"

"Bye"

so walking and talking is not something that causes me too many problems.  Perhaps I’m not typical, but I’d hazard a guess that 99% of mobile phone conversations use only a small part of the brain, leaving plenty of spare capacity for controlling your limbs and processing visual information about where to go.  On the rare occasions that someone asks you a really difficult question (such as why Graeme Souness keeps getting offered jobs in football management) there’s always the option of stopping to think.  Especially if I’m walking nearby.