Feb 14
This is a plea to my friends to put away their crackberry's. You know, your friend that is constantly checking their blackberry or other PDA while you are in mid-conversation, sometimes when you are talking on the phone or even worse, when you are face to face with them over lunch or dinner. They all think they are so discreet, barely pulling it out of their pocket and glancing down at it. It's so unbelievably rude and you see it everywhere today.
I'll be the first to admit, when I first got my Treo I was all excited to have it check my email 24/7. I thought it would bring freedom from the computer and the desk. Instead, I was a slave to my device and getting disconnected from the world. It's easy to convince yourself that you are staying connected and nurturing relationships. It's actually quite the opposite.
I can't take all the credit for my hatred for crackberry addicts. One of my favorite bloggers is Tim Sanders. He did a very cool video blog about this back in November and it really stuck with me. So, rather than have me regurgitate what Tim has said, go watch this video blog about talking to people on the phone or person to person and the dangers of email.
Go to the post from Nov 28th called "Don't say no over email"
Apr 29, 2010 at 7:58 AM Amen, AMEN! I'll go you one further. I remember when I was a kid (I'm 42 now, this was before cell phones), a store employee answered the phone while ringing up a customer. The customer commented that it was very rude of her to answer the phone while serving the customer. She noted that the employee was making the statement, by her actions, that the person on the phone was more important than the person in front of her. That has always stuck with me and it is still true today.
Be considerate, folks. If you are talking to someone, do NOT answer your cell phone, text, email, facebook, twitter, or anything else. Focusing on them lets them know that THEY are important and you are interested in what they are saying.