Font of Useless Knowledge

Is complete dependence on a CrackBerry a generational thing?  How common is it among men of a certain age, demographic, career choice to constantly check for new messages?  If you were to plop all of them together in a ballroom and ask them to play ice breaker games, would they all whip out their CrackBerries and text each other?  Because I tell you, this is a sight that my grandparents could never have imagined in a million years….

Yes, that’s Tom, checking his CrackBerry on the lawn mower, while mowing the lawn.  Do you think this is a problem?  Just weeks ago, Tom said mowing the lawn was about the most fun he’d had in a long time (I assume he meant the most fun he’d had without me in a long time).  But yet here he is, feeling the compulsive need to check his email, or scan the newest Craig’s List postings for car stuff, or whatever he does on that thing.

Multi-tasking is a good thing, sometimes even enviable.  But these two things, mowing and CrackBerry-ing, just don’t seem to go together although I suppose you could argue it’s an extension of driving and CrackBerry-ing.  And I can’t cast any stones since I routinely cross-stitch and watch TV, which I know Tom finds absurd.

I just wonder why he can’t just drive around on the mower with a small dog in his lap instead?