Sentenced to a cell(phone)

[Thom Little]

In the stress-management classes Debbie Mandel teaches, parents often tell her about their struggles to combine work and home. Ranking high on their list of challenges is the cellphone.

"Most of the complaints are about how it intrudes on their home life," says Ms. Mandel, of Lawrence, N.Y. "They get called in the middle of the night. The phone is always ringing about minute issues. They ask me, 'How do we deal with that?' "

It's a question on many people's minds these days. A study in the December issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family finds that cellphones and pagers interfere with family life by bringing job worries and problems home. Interviews with working couples - many with children - revealed that cellphone use tends to decrease family satisfaction and increase distress. "People felt they couldn't turn them off," says Noelle Chesley, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who conducted the study. "I couldn't find evidence of benefits."

Although cellphones give workers the illusion of staying connected with both employers and family members, Mandel often sees a different reality. One mother in her stress-management class boasted that her cellphone enabled her to attend all of her daughter's school activities. "I don't miss anything," she told the group. "Yes, you do," Mandel countered, explaining that when the woman went on a hay ride with her daughter and other children, she spent the whole time on the phone. "Her body was present, but she wasn't there emotionally," Mandel says. "That sends a very ambivalent statement to a child. Sometimes it's better not to be there. To be on the phone with business is ignoring the child."



http://csmonitor.com/2005/1215/p13s01-lifp.html

[FreedomAngel82]

1. I just say you turn it all off

You have to be able to live too.

[WindRavenX]

2. my phone is OFF when I'm sleeping

Or when I need "me" time.

Too many people are slaves to that damn thing...

[PDJane]

3. I refuse to have one.

it's one of the few mod cons I don't feel the need to purchase. The pager is bad enough, and I don't have that on when I don't need it. The only reason I might want a cell phone is if I were travelling, so that I could keep on top of mother's condition.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. And most phones have voice mails

And people now days have machines and stuff like that at home if it's really important.

[kineneb]

4. any of these jokers hear of voice mail/answering machine??

I have a land line and a cell phone. I use the cell for long distance calls, since I have to pay for it anyway. Also, Hubby has serious health issues which require my attention. But sometimes, I just refuse to answer phones; they ring, I look at the offending item, and say "talk to the machine." I don't turn off the cell at night because I would probably forget to turn it back on in the morning. And there is always: "I am busy right now. If you need to leave a message, please call right back and talk to the voice mail."

[MazeRat7]

6. If your phone causes you stress... you are an idiot.

Really. Remember that mid-80's invention called caller id ? Its on the cells/landlines/etc... you can "choose" to pickup or not. Remember that late 19th century device called a switch... you can turn it off or not. In the case of cell phones, most automatically roll over to vmail so you can return the call at your leisure.

Seriously, if a persons worst problem is managing "their phone"... lord knows they are most likely an idiot.

MZr7

[Hello_Kitty]

8. Overblown sense of own importance

"I simply must be available to everyone at all times or the world will end!" :eyes:

[f-bush]

7. Turn it off-better yet-get rid of it

I refuse to have a cell phone. I turn my ringer off on my land line at home and screen all messages. If it is that important...someone will send me a telegram. I am a salaried employee, but I refuse to let the corporation take my "time" with my family. They pay me for 8 hours and that is what they get. While I am there, they have my whole attention. I don't allow personal calls (short of a death or hospitalization) to come to me at either.