# Has your place of employment fired anyone over their addicton to technology? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016 "2017-05-06T16:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/41 "2017-05-09T21:24:15Z")
A lot of my job is “hurry-up-and-wait” type of work. If I couldn’t browse the web on my work computer (or Facebook and other apps on my phone), I’d likely go insane. When I’m busy, I’m swamped, but when it’s quiet, you can practically see the tumbleweed blow down the hall. Also, IT has blocked a lot of sites (streaming media, personal e-mail, etc.), so I have to find something to do to help pass the slow stretches. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/42 "2017-05-10T01:00:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Twenty years ago the majority of my employees took regular smoke breaks. Non-smokers got comparable breaks. Fifteen years ago I offered financial incentives to smokers who quit (at least at work). Today, none of my employees smoke. > > Social media provides a distraction, similar to smoking, IMO. I’m totally satisfied with the effort my employees put into their jobs. I’ve _never_ fired anyone. Whatever gets you through the day. I’m a believer in your way of doing it. I’m just pointing out how corporate America sees it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/43 "2017-05-10T04:18:55Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Same for my workplace (depending on the security of your work area). No cellphones, no fitbits, no ipods, no step-counters, no electronic pads, nothing. In the secure areas, paper is provided, and your writings are either logged and stored in a safe, or shredded at day’s end. When your computer is upgraded, the old one is melted down in a sort of crematorium. Oddly enough, they will let you keep the remaining lump of metal if you want it (maybe it makes an interesting conversation piece – I’ve never kept mine). Most ports (USB, etc.) on user’s computers are filled with epoxy, and disk drives are surrounded by a locked metal band. > > Inadvertent entry with cellphone in pocket is forgiveable, provided it’s surrendered to security immediately (along with passwords so they can examine all photos and messages). Attempting to conceal a cellphone is immediate termination and removal by armed guards (your possessions are mailed to you later). > > Communication with the outside world during work is via a phone with a specialized mic (which supposedly only picks up sounds a few inches away). Before use, workers must make a loud verbal announcement and turn on the flashing strobe over their desk. > > To the OP’s question, Yes - firings over technology use are not everyday occurrences, but they’re not rare. There is a small percentage of new hires who really don’t take the rules seriously (surprisingly, millenials don’t seem to be the worst offenders). What kind of place do you work at? Do you deal with classified information? ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/44 "2017-05-10T10:35:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > What kind of place do you work at? Do you deal with classified information? I could tell ya, but then I’d have to bore ya to death. 🙂 Seriously, it’s a classified work area. I’ve worked at quite a few, and as wearable/carry-able tech proliferates among “normal” workers, my life seems weirder and weirder. I’m out of contact for large swaths of the workday and emerge, blinking into the sunlight wondering what happened during the day. I was unaware of the 9/11 events until an arriving co-worker told us. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/45 "2017-05-10T20:49:23Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > Also, IT has blocked a lot of sites (streaming media, personal e-mail, etc.), so I have to find something to do to help pass the slow stretches. This is my situation as well. IT categorizes all web sites; gaming, gambling, streaming and social media are all blocked (but not the SDMB :D). You need to ask IT for access to any site that comes back “uncategorized”, so most people don’t push it. And no guest WiFi in the building, so any phone activity uses your own data. I still see people check their phones and surf, but no one abuses it. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/46 "2017-05-10T21:04:24Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > This is my situation as well. IT categorizes all web sites; gaming, gambling, streaming and social media are all blocked (but not the SDMB :D). You need to ask IT for access to any site that comes back “uncategorized”, so most people don’t push it. So, does that mean that your office’s IT explicitly whitelisted the SDMB? You may have (a) fellow Doper(s) in your office. > [@Tinkertoy](#): > > Our call center staffed about 300 employees and a week didn’t go by without watching the security guards escorting at least 2 employees, just on my shift alone, out of the building. For some reason people just could not comprehend the “We have cameras everywhere but the bathroom, you will be seen” warnings posted through out the building. Can’t read the signs up there if you’re looking at your phone down here. You should send them a text during work hours. Do some people take unusually long bathroom breaks in your office? > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Any kind of unauthorized technology is illegal in prison and cell phones were high up on the list. > > If you were lucky, you’d get a ninety day suspension without pay for the first offense. If you were unlucky on the first offense or if it was a second offense, you’d be fired. If you were really unlucky, you’d also be arrested. > [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > I work in a detention center, and despite rules prohibiting cell phones or streaming media on workplace computers, no one has ever gotten more than a reprimand. Same work environment, quite different behaviors. Could you both say what kind of detention center you’re talking about? Perhaps minimum security is more lax with guards too. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not my employer but definitely my industry: [Northwest Airlines Flight 188 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_188). > > Oops. :smack: It seems they were sleeping and only said they were too busy with technology because that was a less serious breach. While both pilots sleeping is comedy-level negligence, is it more common than extremely rare for pilots to sleep one at a time? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/47 "2017-05-11T02:30:15Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > So, does that mean that your office’s IT explicitly whitelisted the SDMB? You may have (a) fellow Doper(s) in your office. SDMB may also be wide open because it’s not porn and also not encrypted, the IT security group can scan the traffic to ensure that it’s not malware coming down the pipe, and maybe not as popular as we all like to think it is 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/48 "2017-05-11T16:06:13Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > This is my situation as well. IT categorizes all web sites; gaming, gambling, streaming and social media are all blocked (but not the SDMB :D). You need to ask IT for access to any site that comes back “uncategorized”, so most people don’t push it. > And no guest WiFi in the building, so any phone activity uses your own data. > > I still see people check their phones and surf, but no one abuses it. A quick side-note: I was talking to a friend last month via text at work. He were discussing our lunch plans (separately), and he said he was going to a place called “Super Chix.” I’d never heard of it, and he claimed it was better than any other fast food chicken restaurant in the area. So, I decided to do a Google search. The website was the name. I clicked on it, and… Yeah, it was blocked as a site with adult content. Checked the site on my phone, and it was legitimately for the restaurant, but our IT filter screened it out (presumably because of the “x” ending). Decided to get ahead of things, and called IT to let them know what I’d done, and also stuck my head into HR’s office to let her know as well. We had a laugh about it, since I’m on really good terms with pretty much everyone at work, but I was thinking about their reaction if they get weekly reports of attempted access to blocked sites. I know they do for any USB activity. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/49 "2017-05-11T16:14:33Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > So, does that mean that your office’s IT explicitly whitelisted the SDMB? You may have (a) fellow Doper(s) in your office. It is listed as a news site, maybe because of the Chicago Reader connection? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/50 "2017-05-11T17:21:38Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > A quick side-note: > > I was talking to a friend last month via text at work. He were discussing our lunch plans (separately), and he said he was going to a place called “Super Chix.” I’d never heard of it, and he claimed it was better than any other fast food chicken restaurant in the area. > > So, I decided to do a Google search. The website was the name. I clicked on it, and… > > Yeah, it was blocked as a site with adult content. Checked the site on my phone, and it was legitimately for the restaurant, but our IT filter screened it out (presumably because of the “x” ending). > > Decided to get ahead of things, and called IT to let them know what I’d done, and also stuck my head into HR’s office to let her know as well. We had a laugh about it, since I’m on really good terms with pretty much everyone at work, but I was thinking about their reaction if they get weekly reports of attempted access to blocked sites. I know they do for any USB activity. Two anecotes: 1. Several years ago, I was staying at a motel and using the computer in the lobby. I signed on to a favorite message board, and the site was blocked because the phrase “female genital mutilation” was somewhere on that site. Guess I just sealed the fate of SDMB at that place, too. :o 2. Around the same time, a colleague got a blocker on her home computer, mainly so her kids, who were early elementary aged, wouldn’t accidentally access porn. She wanted to do some continuing education, and couldn’t sign onto the Pharmacy Times website because it was about drugs. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/51 "2017-05-11T18:27:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Two anecotes: > > 1. Several years ago, I was staying at a motel and using the computer in the lobby. I signed on to a favorite message board, and the site was blocked because the phrase “female genital mutilation” was somewhere on that site. Guess I just sealed the fate of SDMB at that place, too. :o > > 2. Around the same time, a colleague got a blocker on her home computer, mainly so her kids, who were early elementary aged, wouldn’t accidentally access porn. She wanted to do some continuing education, and couldn’t sign onto the Pharmacy Times website because it was about drugs. :smack: That reminds me of the [bash.org](http://bash.org) bit excerpt where a person was in a Christian IRC room. There was a bot in there that would quote scripture if you’d state the book and verse. This bot also worked as a moderator, so that if people were being obnoxious or profane, it would kick them out of the room. Well, as it turns out, someone had the clever idea of requesting Numbers 22:21. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. Yeah, the bot issued itself a warning and then ejected itself from the channel. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016/52 "2017-05-12T03:59:19Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > That reminds me of the [bash.org](http://bash.org) bit excerpt where a person was in a Christian IRC room. > > There was a bot in there that would quote scripture if you’d state the book and verse. This bot also worked as a moderator, so that if people were being obnoxious or profane, it would kick them out of the room. > > Well, as it turns out, someone had the clever idea of requesting Numbers 22:21. > > And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. > > Yeah, the bot issued itself a warning and then ejected itself from the channel. I wonder how that thing would react to Ezekiel 23:20. [Ezekiel 23:20 and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.](http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/23-20.htm) 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-place-of-employment-fired-anyone-over-their-addicton-to-technology/786016.md?page=2)