Message #61237

[dettu]

LOL--this dinosaur learned on a manual typewriter! Seriously! I just had a nightmare a couple of days ago that I applied for a new job and the bulk of the work involved typing on a manual typewriter.

Our directors are encouraged to use Blackberrys. Mine has one and he does look at it during meetings, even when he's meeting with me. I find it annoying, but I live with a Blackberry user and I know they're unconscious of how much pressure it puts on them to respond instantly to anything that comes in. It's like big brother is watching them and they will be judged if they don't answer. However, they rarely take a call during a meeting, and if they do they leave the room for it.

I always have my phone on, but I have it on vibrate during meetings. I am the primary contact for my young child, who has a food allergy (and is, unfortunately, accident-prone). If my phone is vibrating for something non-urgent, I just ignore it; if it's school or afterschool calling, I excuse myself just as my boss would and get the call finished quickly in the hallway outside the meeting room. I think if I didn't have a child, I would not take my phone to meetings at all.