Chesuncook Lake. Posted on Flickr by cluczkow.
Do you check your email from the bathroom? What about while dining at fancy restaurants?
If you answered yes, you’re not alone. Three years ago, an AOL survey found that Washington DC is the most email-addicted city in the country. About three in four Washingtonians admitted to checking their email from a restaurant. A full 65 percent admitted to reading their email in the bathroom.
This isn’t surprising — Washington is a plugged-in town. Even the President uses a Blackberry. When Obama entered office, he famously decided to hold onto his smartphone. (And Blackberrys are the smartphones of choice. While Blackberrys outnumber iPhones two-to-one nationally, the ratio is closer to 106:1 in Capitol Hill offices.)
I’ll admit to being an email-addicted Washingtonian. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. And even though it has been illegal since 2004, I’ve certainly replied to emails from behind the wheel. Even when traveling outside the United States, I’ve kept my blackberry on and responded to emails.
That all changed earlier this month, though, with a canoe trip to T3-R12, an unincorporated township in Maine’s Great North Woods. While I didn’t experience the shakes, it certainly made me realize just how much I’ve come to depend on connectedness. It’d be great to say I felt liberated – perhaps motivated to toss my Blackberry in the trash – but instead, a world without cell phones was just sort of creepy.
What about you? Do you respond to emails while in your pajamas or ever pulled out your Blackberry while on a date? What’s the longest you’ve gone without a smartphone?
