Blueberries Are Nicer Than Blackberrys

A friend just spent a few dreadful days with close family members who spent a few days giving undivided attention to their Blackberrys and very little to their host. First it was call waiting. You call someone just for a friendly chat, you're in the middle of a story and the next thing you don't rate. There's another call and it's more important than your call, it can't wait even though the service that enabled it is called Call Waiting.

Now we've gone high rude-tech. You're talking to someone and they're not looking at you but kind of keep a raised eyebrow to imply that they hear you. They don't see you because they're heads are down, as if they're nodding off as they fire off emails and check for more.

If one is waiting for some important life-altering message, they should leave the room politely, as if they have to make pressing call. If you're paying someone a visit, turning off the Blackberry is a good idea and maybe quickly check messages when you feign natura vocat (nature calling). When did we all become so important? The fact is is that we're not all so important. Many Blackberry users are not running companies or making record making deals. But somehow that device makes them feel that they're on the fast track to something - an Evite? Our social graces have already started to fade to Blackberry.

When a Blackberry user responds to an email there's a little line that lets you know that it was sent from their Blackberry. This is supposed to let you know that they are on the case about that Dalai Lama quiz they wanted to share with you. Or maybe they want to show how special you are and even though they're busy doing twenty things there was time for them to ignore someone else as they dropped their heads to respond to you.

If you find yourself in the situation of our friend, say something. Tell them that you were looking forward to spending time with them but it's really hard when they're constantly on their Blackberrys.

Plan activities so that they won't have time or the interest in reaching out to others. You can offer them something that will involve both hands - a cup of hot chocolate, a sandwich or maybe corn on the cob dripping with butter. You can serve Blueberries in a cup. Bluberries are better for everybody. They're good anti-oxidants that'll protect you from those free radicals flying all over the place. After several spoonfuls maybe the Blackberry user, now healthier and maybe glowing, will want to give you some quality face time.