Twenty Four Seven Accessibility
The Province of Ontario, Canada, is currently studying legislation that would make it illegal to operate a hand held cell phone, Blackberry or GPS device while operating a motor vehicle. If it becomes law, Ontario would follow the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and over a dozen states in the USA.
Whatever your opinion on the subject of using a cell phone while driving, the fact remains that we are increasingly subjecting ourselves to 24 hour a day, 7 day a week accessibility. And I for one think that generally speaking, this is just nonsense.
It didn’t happen all of a sudden. Rather we’ve allowed it creep up on us, slowly and insidiously. With more of us working outside of the traditional 9-5 office setting, we felt compelled to accept the occasional “after hours” call from the boss. Before we even realized it, occasionally turned into twice weekly and not long after that into daily.
It likely started when we were out grocery shopping or having dinner with our partner one night and the boss was unable to reach us right away. Guess what was waiting for us the next day? Not just a cell phone, oh no, a Blackberry. It’s not enough that we need to be available to take a call at 3 am, but we’d best be prepared to respond to any and all emails pronto.
But is all this really necessary? For some of us yes, it is. Those in the medical profession carried pagers in the years before cell phone technology became easily accessible to all. More and more companies do business on a global scale, where different time zones play havoc with North American business hours. For these people, cell phones and in particular Blackberries and their type, have become indispensable business tools. They allow a quick response in the event that a life is at stake, and in the case of business, it affords companies the ability to instantly respond to customers and suppliers.
Too many of the rest of us however, are becoming slaves to technology. When people become so obsessed by a device that it spawns a moniker, like Crackberry, something has gone awry.
If you find that you’re one of these people, you have to stop and ask yourself if being tethered to an electronic leash all hours of the day and night is really necessary? Or does it just make you feel important? Ask yourself how often having your PDA turned on during family time has interfered with your plans for a day with the kids, or even a sit down family meal. If you don’t know the answer, ask your partner. He or she will be only too happy to tell you.
Very few of us need to be available around the clock, and even fewer of us want to. There are three very simple words to the solution. Turn It Off.
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