Disconnected! Not!

A return to the topic of connectivity for a moment. One of my first blog entries discussed parents using cellular phones while their child recovered from anesthesia. Yesterday I cared for a child whose father was a candidate for a Blackberry Addiction support group-trust me they will exist one day. I am proud that I did not grab the Blackberry and shove it up his rectum. Had I performed the intervention, I may have been fired, but I might have saved the man's family. His wife sneered at him while he talked to me: head down, playing a GAME on his pint-sized idiot box. Just because the thing weighs less than 5 ounces does not make it OK; I bet you tell your kid to stop watching TV live by example, Sir.
I'm exposed to many examples of marital/familial dysfunction and function and this couple made me wonder more than ever. When they make love-if they even do- does he check the berry after the cherry. Does his wife have her own berry to attend to and does it give her more love than her husband. These scenes from the lives I am entrusted with fascinate me and they are often indicative of the whole show. Maybe they don't talk at all, maybe they only text each other.


When I visit my sister in Florida, I complain that the Television stays on until dinner. Shouldn't the preparation of the meal encourage chatter, so, we, as family remain connected. I love my multi-tasking, executive sister, but sometimes I wish she'd call me instead of shooting an email. Email's are for quick things: "meet me at five," "don't forget the apple pie," or "the test results are positive." Don't ask me how things are, I can't type that fast and I you really want to know then I'll subject you to the thirty minute diatribe.

On my flight back from Dallas, I read an article about Blackberry addiction. The author writes how users obtain a sense of importance from being on call 24/7. Most of the nurses I work with hate being on call. Will we like it if we get a blackberry? The man said that people expect him to be respond within minutes. I wanted to ask if the immediacy was a condition he placed upon himself. Do that make him feel special, needed? Does his family not provide that or has he removed himself from the equation. I watched the boy for two hours and except for a trip to the loo, the berry remained in his hand. On his way out, I grabbed one of his digits telling him I was concerned about a new condition called blackberry thumb.

I've said before that I am pro wired world, I just think we need to find the middle ground.



Instead of a picture, we have a funny video!

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