The key to doing the 10000 steps a day is to be mindful of not running into people or behaving like an idiot.
I read this recent NYTimes article on the perils of distracted walkers and while I see the benefits of paying attention, I don’t really get the don’t-run-with-scissors-into-traffic list of absurd warnings at the bottom. I see too many folks navigate while talking on the phone using a headset to worry as much about them as I do about those who text, or who use their phone to count their steps. It reads a little like the UK IT police who warn us that kids who study computers beyond the curriculum at school have one of the top warning signs of cyber criminal activity (since withdrawn due to its stupidity, along with the warning about computer books, who are these people).
I do notice I stop when texting, although I wonder, is it to make sure I don’t run into others, or simply buildings or falling into an open manhole cover.