The Backpack

Chapter 6

Buddy observed a young man walking slowly down the middle of the corridor with a backpack looped over both shoulders and his eyes gazing intently at his phone. He was most likely a college student—and definitely someone who is going to unknowingly inconvenience a lot of people as he meanders through the airport. And he is probably someone who will be labeled by others as a person who doesn't seem to care too much about his impact on his fellow travelers.

That wasn't a judgment; it was merely a fact.

Three different people had already been forced to adjust their course to avoid a collision with the young man because he was completely unaware of most things going on in his surrounding environment.

Buddy was reasonably certain that if you asked the young man where his backpack was, he would have to pause and think and then proceed to feel for one of the shoulder straps to assure himself that it was actually on his back.

Partial attention deficit disorder, continuous partial attention, or chronic attention deficit were what his friend Truman, a psychologist, may call it. They pretty much all meant the same thing to Buddy: people not consciously and fully aware of what and, even more, who, is around them.

In the military, they call it situational awareness, which is being fully aware of one's surroundings.

Similarly, self‐help gurus talk about the importance of being fully engaged.

People who practice meditation call it mindfulness.

Christian disciplines describe it as ...