Who comes up with this stuff?

Honestly, who here has heard of "iPod oblivion?" And I mean heard of it before the last day or two.

I'm gonna bet no one, 'cause it's another made up "ailment" or "bad" mental, or psyche condition created by knuckleheads who feel a need to explain away temporary stupidity on medical-like terms - sorta like road rage, computer rage, and air rage, to name a few. So anywhere you get angry these days that location gets a formal rage label. And you have a criminal defense. Or any stupid thing you do gets a formal label, so you can write off your behavior as not being your fault.

According to the New York Daily News "iO" is "the zoned-out state of the earbud-wearing generation."

Anyway, I'm ranting 'cause a state legislator in New York wants to pass law that makes it a ticketable offense to listen to your iPod or use other electronic hand-held stuff like cell phones and PDAs while walking across a street.

Pedestrians caught using this stuff while crossing a street would be subject to $100 fines.

Now, I'm all for restricting people on cell phones while driving in certain areas, like school zones and the strip of road in front of the emergency room entrance at a hospital. Or at least make folks be on head sets in certain zones so they can keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.

But restrictions while walking? That's a little too Big Brotherish for me.

Anyone who's smart enough to use any one of the gadgets mentioned is smart enough to not get hit by a car.

And if anyone is dumb enough to step into traffic and not look both ways, well, isn't that just evidence of some kind of natural selection?