technologically inefficient

In an attempt to make his business more efficient, my boss has obtained Blackberrys for his sales staff...both of us.

I am now able to receive the multitude of pointless emails and directives he sends out at lightning-quick speed at all hours of the day. After work. In the middle of the night. And on weekends.

He sends these with such frequency that I can barely delete them all before another one appears in my inbox. The task is proving to be overwhelming.

Worse is the fact that now, with two cell phones, I find that available body space for storing both my personal and work phone is becoming sparse. True, the Blackberry came with a belt buckle holder, but on principle alone I refuse to wear any phone on my belt.

I have always found this to be incredibly pretentious. No one, in my opinion, is important enough that they need a phone attached to them so that they can be reached at a moments notice. Granted, a few select life-and-death doctors dealing with rare diseases that can kill in mere minutes are an exception...but no one is going to experience a dire sales related situation that will need my immediate attention.

So the Blackberry has been banished to one of my pockets. Though, now that I'm wearing two phones, I often find that buzzing and ringing will suddenly emanate from somewhere on my body, leaving me to feel like a walking call center.

And while the new Blackberry hasn't made my job more efficient, it does have its perks. Because now I can surf the internet from anywhere I want. And when bored with that, a game of Tetris is always right at my fingertips.

This is exactly what I was doing the other day. I had finished a sales call early and, postponing going back into the office, was drinking coffee and playing Tetris at Starbucks. As I was about to clear a row, my boss called.

I paused my game and answered the phone.

“Where are you at?!” he said by way of greeting.

“Just taking care of business,” I told him.