<p>I’m steaming…I just came from my 5th grader’s holiday concert, & had the pleasure of sitting next to a “Crackberry” addict. Throughout the concert as his Blackberry buzzed (at least he set it on vibrate mode so only the surrounding few seats could hear it), he had to bang out an email response each time. Am I wrong to think that this is just plain rude, and disrespectful to the concert-givers? Cell phone courtesy seems to be under much better control than it used to…hand-held wireless email etiquette is next on the list.</p>
<p>Pray for repetitive use injuries of the thumb to rise…pray for broken thumbs. It is horribly distracting to be sitting next to one who is madly “thumbing” and we can only hope that TheBerries lose their lawsuits and disable these berry annoying devices.</p>
<p>Blackberries are going a long way to destroying work life balance, but only for people who let them. They do have an “off” switch!</p>
<p>I have a Blackberry. I like it, but I don’t use it all that much. I use it more to read e-mails than to send them. I can read CC from it too! I find all the thumbing rather tedious. The people who are constantly thumbing on their Blackberries are the same people who walked around with their cell phones constantly plastered to their ear.</p>
<p>No, Papa Chicken, you are not wrong … that person was exceptionally rude. I’m so sick of self-important people thinking their conversations are so important that the rest of us should be made to suffer through them. I show my disapproval by staring at the offender and taking in every word they are saying on the phone. Trust me, they notice. I make a point to to roll my eyes and shake my head, too. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I am guffawing at that one…how funny. Thumbing is just so funny to watch. I love the shaking your head part.</p>
<p>worked for a cell phone company for 15 years. The worst was a meeting in a conf room where no one paid attention to the meeting and spent all their time on their Blackberries. </p>
<p>That was my last straw at the company…</p>
<p>Now I know I live in the boonies. I had no idea what this thread was about by its title…I was thinking, who is picking Blackberries at this time of year, we pick 'em in summer! So, uh, yeah. I never heard of these Blackberries you are talking about and have never seen anyone do this. Cell phones, yep and text messaging, yep. Blackberries, that’s new to me. I gotta get with the program.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.blackberry.com/products/handhelds/index.shtml[/url]”>http://www.blackberry.com/products/handhelds/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>Susan, lol. Even in the boonies, we’ve seen them! My H has one but he only uses it at home in his study or when travelling, certainly never in public or at a concert or a meeting where someone’s talking. 
His is also a cellphone. They’re interesting little gadgets.</p>
<p>Wow…a married cellphone? Just kidding. I mean is the Blackberry married to the cellphone? I am just thinking too much today.</p>
<p>I am addicted to my Blackberry, but I am careful to not use it in a manner that would offend others. While it certainly closes the work/personal life gap, it also has allowed me flexibility to be out of the office and to travel which I would not have had if I were not “connected”. There are trade-offs. I don’t even put it on vibrate when I am at a movie or performance- it is on “silent” and safely tucked away in my purse.</p>
<p>Someone in front of me was doing something similar at a choir concert last night. His whatchamacallit rang (not sure if it was a blackberry, but it was definitely more than a cell phone) and I thought he would just turn it off, but NOOOOO, he had to sit and fiddle with it for awhile. I was ready to bop him on the head, but he finally turned it off. And same thing happened the last time I went to the SF Opera. Ugh. So unclassy.</p>
<p>Before I went through the 12 steps of BA, I was using my Blackberry in all sorts of places (never in an offensive manner). I actually would go and sit at a pay phone in order to use my Blackberry (i) to review and respond to emails and (ii) to make cell calls.</p>
<p>However, when I was on vacation and had to drive about 15 miles into the closest town in order to get a signal for my Blackberry, I realized I had hit bottom (in a Blackberry sense). That day I started on my way to recovery.</p>
<p>That is definitely unclassy. I love how they fiddle…yanking the battery doesn’t require fiddle faddle or thumbing. Pull the battery and deal with the device at intermission when everyone has put gum on your seat…</p>
<p>The CEO of my old company had only one firm rule. Cellphones, pagers and blackberries are OFF during meetings. Not “vibrate”, not “silent”. OFF. Offenders were thrown out of the meeting, no matter who and no matter how important the meeting. He tossed investment analysts, the CFO, Division Presidents – the message was definitely clear, as you’d eventually see all these very high-paid executives huddling outside the conference room door reminding themselves to turn everything off. I wouldn’t say that meeting with him was exactly stress-free, but it was most definitely distraction-free.</p>
<p>hazmat, I’m not sure what you mean by your ‘married’ comment. The Blackberry is also a cellphone, as in cellphone capabilities in addition to the usual email, www, texting functions.</p>
<p>Papa Chicken,</p>
<p>Imagine how the Blackberry user’s fifth grader felt when he or she looked out into the audience and noticed that dear old dad appeared more interested in the gadget than in the concert. Of course it is disrespectful. Unfortunately, the parent probably reasoned that he wouldn’t have been able to attend the concert at all without the Blackberry. Chances are they didn’t even realize that they were being inconsiderate. </p>
<p>Too bad they can’t deal with the situation the same way they do with unauthorized use of cell phones or ipods during the school day. Confiscate the Blackberry and make the parent come to the principal’s office with their kid to retrieve it.</p>
<p>alwaysamom my unsophisticated attempt at humor…I am 'tho totally aware of what a Blackberry is, thus having a cell phone and a Blackberry in your coat seemed redundant…thus the married comment. Oh well, simple mind of mine.</p>
<p>I have a cell phone and a PDA but not a blackberry since I don’t like one size fits all gadgets- but I get annoyed even when parents are talking on their phone at a soccer game.
If you are expecting a important call you turn it on vibrate and sit on the aisle- so that you can leave to answer it without disruption
Elementary school performers deserve as much respect as professionals
This also goes for little children
I fyour little baby is crying or otherwise being really loud- take him out- of course small children are welcome at perfomances, but if it is too much of a strain for them to pay attention, it is too big of a distraction for those who are trying to watch the show.
We are not impressed with how “important” you are that you need to be reached at your childs concert and we don’t think that your screaming 3 yr old is “cute”</p>