OP, if I could call you on the phone and congratulate you, I would. I think that while texting does have its place and appropriate purpose, it’s way overused and abused to the point it has made people socially incompetent.
Case in point. My boss, an incompetent (for other reasons) flag-wavin’ moron has a Blackberry. He routinely:
[ul]
[li]Pulls out his Blackberry in meetings, either his own or someone elses, and ignoring those physically present with him, will “check his email” and send crap out.[/li][li]While physically speaking to other people, will abruptly open the thing to “check email”[/li][li]Routinely sends emails out at 8:30PM, 9:30PM, and 10:30PM, expecting people to get right on them first thing in the morning. He has been known to call people at home (i.e. me) to say, “Hey, I just sent you an email. . .” later in the evening. I am at home, not at work. Fuck off. . .[/li][li]Attempts to subtly brandish the thing like a badge, recommending that I get one too to become “more productive”.[/li][/ul]
On the last point, I refuse. I get far more done, and far more loyalty with my coworkers and subordinates by just walking around and talking to them. I refuse to have one just on principle.
I believe that people feel like they must be a slave to the thing. It is an accessory, not a primary informational device. xtisme, I agree with you that the technology is in its infancy, but people need to learn how to accommodate the easy accessibility of information in dealing with people, not focusing on the machine. There’s a time and place for email, but people cannot be replaced. These people need to focus on dealing with people, instead of pushing out bits of information that are routinely ignored, ineffective, or otherwise mentally offensive. In business, it’s far less cognitively intensive to have a discussion and understand a task or topic than it is to try to deliver an accurate product by an email tasker. Now go ahead, email me the spreadsheet or the form to fill out. . . but if you want something done, you really ought to communicate your intent with me at least verbally on the phone.
I think that in order to teach others to focus on people, the next time someone opens up a Blackberry in front of me inappropriately, I will either call into question the morality of their mothers, or I will physically sock them in the face (perhaps both). It has just gone too damn far. . .
"Dammit Colonel, the next time you pull that thing out while talking to someone, I’m going to grab it, load it into a clay trap, and fling it into the Great Salt Lake with a few 12-gauge shells behind it. " – Yes, I said this. No, I am not in jail. . . yet.
The Goddamned things are the Dehvill! :mad:
Tripler
Typed on a typewriter, mailed to the Chicago Reader, and posted by proxy by the mods.
