You know it might be time to shelf the selfies when a bison decides to take matters into its own hooves.
All the action took place at Yellowstone National Park where the bison are very at home on the range. Unfortunately, a woman tried to snap a selfie with one of the wild beasts. Not the best idea. The woman and her daughter had their backs to the bison and were about 6 yards away when the animal charged them, caught the mother on her side, lifted her up with his head and tossed her into the air. She was checked out and released with only minor injuries. Hashtag Lady Luck.
She’s the fifth person injured in Yellowstone this year by a bison in a photo faux pas. One of those was a 16 year-old, gored as she posed near the famous geyser, but she lived to take more pics. Probably a selfie in her hospital gown.
So, one take on all this photo taking and sharing is that we’re all missing the forest for the trees. First, not everyone cares about our latest look (or blog for that matter;) and when you take a selfie there’s a lot of self involvement. You get so absorbed in posing for that perfect shot that you lose sight of the world around you. In the case of the Yellowstone selfie-taker, danger lurks everywhere.
It’s not only selfies. You could be checking your e-mail, texting someone or listening to NPR’s “Invisibilia,” while walking across a busy street, or on safari in Africa (uh oh).
Is it hip to show the world where you are and how good you look? Sometimes, but those selfie sticks are one pain in the neck.
So numero uno takeaway from this bison tale is to check out where you are and who you might piss off before you look down at your smartphone for the 30 seconds it takes to get that shot picture perfect. ‘Cause it takes an angry bison about 10 seconds to ride herd on your head.