The Electronic Leash
SO. CAL.
The annual technical meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers was held in San Diego on Mar. 25-28. I went along as the trailing spouse, touring the city with David, my favorite ex-coworker who moved from Northern Virginia to San Diego four years ago.
Some of the VDOT managers at my husband, Randy's, level had been refusing for some time to accept the Blackberries that had become standard issue for the managers. But Randy received one anyway just in time for our trip to San Diego.
Having a Blackberry means that Randy can read email from his boss at any time of day. Dinner at David's house, message from boss about an inside joke. Strolling the beach, message from the Federal Highway Administration about being intentionally left out of the loop on communication with the local congressman. That was the one message Randy was glad to receive immediately. The poor pawn at FHWA thought he was getting away with something by sending Randy a message while he was out of town. Instead, Randy notified his staff, his boss, and his boss's boss within seven minutes of the original email and they were able to foil FHWA's attempt to give VDOT information too late to do something about it.
Email during work hours is reasonable. The conference was a work event so during the down-time, like throughout a boring session, the ability to read and send email was a welcome time-saver since it's something that would have to be addressed back at the office where there would be other pressing issues to tackle. But if anyone expects their very important, yet non-emergency, employees to pay attention to their demands all weekend or at two in the morning, they're delusional. I can guarantee you that although there may be traffic emergencies, there are no traffic engineering emergencies during non-business hours. Luckily Randy's boss is reasonable and does not expect immediate responses while Randy is asleep. But I have known bosses who are not as considerate toward their employees.
What some bosses don't realize is that unlike dogs, employees have the free will and ability to remove the leash whenever they wish. Randy had the sense to leave the Blackberry in the car during dinner at nephew Tom's house and when we went out to dinner with my mother-in-law.
One nice thing about having constant access to email and phone while on vacation is that as we drove up the coast, we were able to get messages from brother-in-law Kevin so we knew what time he would be home to greet us. We also received the mass email about Aunt Margie's funeral in Orange, CA, in time to attend. We even wished we had a camera on the Blackberry so we could send pictures of the house where Grandma Ditty used to live to my father-in-law.
The house that Grandpa Ditty built.
One of several properties built by the Dittberners in southern California in the 1950's.
But for all the irritation and all the convenience that an electronic leash can bring, we shouldn't take for granted the ability to communicate with whom we want when we want. There are many people who wish they could send an email or phone message across the globe, but have access only about once a month. Such as nephew Brad who called from Iraq at seven in the morning, just before Randy and I left for our flight back to Virginia.
The annual technical meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers was held in San Diego on Mar. 25-28. I went along as the trailing spouse, touring the city with David, my favorite ex-coworker who moved from Northern Virginia to San Diego four years ago.
Some of the VDOT managers at my husband, Randy's, level had been refusing for some time to accept the Blackberries that had become standard issue for the managers. But Randy received one anyway just in time for our trip to San Diego.
Having a Blackberry means that Randy can read email from his boss at any time of day. Dinner at David's house, message from boss about an inside joke. Strolling the beach, message from the Federal Highway Administration about being intentionally left out of the loop on communication with the local congressman. That was the one message Randy was glad to receive immediately. The poor pawn at FHWA thought he was getting away with something by sending Randy a message while he was out of town. Instead, Randy notified his staff, his boss, and his boss's boss within seven minutes of the original email and they were able to foil FHWA's attempt to give VDOT information too late to do something about it.
Email during work hours is reasonable. The conference was a work event so during the down-time, like throughout a boring session, the ability to read and send email was a welcome time-saver since it's something that would have to be addressed back at the office where there would be other pressing issues to tackle. But if anyone expects their very important, yet non-emergency, employees to pay attention to their demands all weekend or at two in the morning, they're delusional. I can guarantee you that although there may be traffic emergencies, there are no traffic engineering emergencies during non-business hours. Luckily Randy's boss is reasonable and does not expect immediate responses while Randy is asleep. But I have known bosses who are not as considerate toward their employees.
What some bosses don't realize is that unlike dogs, employees have the free will and ability to remove the leash whenever they wish. Randy had the sense to leave the Blackberry in the car during dinner at nephew Tom's house and when we went out to dinner with my mother-in-law.
One nice thing about having constant access to email and phone while on vacation is that as we drove up the coast, we were able to get messages from brother-in-law Kevin so we knew what time he would be home to greet us. We also received the mass email about Aunt Margie's funeral in Orange, CA, in time to attend. We even wished we had a camera on the Blackberry so we could send pictures of the house where Grandma Ditty used to live to my father-in-law.
The house that Grandpa Ditty built.
One of several properties built by the Dittberners in southern California in the 1950's.
But for all the irritation and all the convenience that an electronic leash can bring, we shouldn't take for granted the ability to communicate with whom we want when we want. There are many people who wish they could send an email or phone message across the globe, but have access only about once a month. Such as nephew Brad who called from Iraq at seven in the morning, just before Randy and I left for our flight back to Virginia.
posted by Lisa Schaefer at 9:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home