Dear Berry: Bathroom-Bound BlackBerry...
Posted in Dear Berry on 10 Oct 2007 08:29 by Mara Blumenthal | 11 comments

 Dear Berry,

This has to be a joke or something. My husband used to disappear into the bathroom with his newspaper - ok - bad enough - lots of people do it. We had 1 child then so not such a burden. However, now he disappears into the bathroom with his NEW BlackBerry, which seems to be NEW every couple of months. I know of course because of the shear time he spends in there (no he is not sick in any way) and also it's funny, later that same evening he will show me these new fun things he learned on his BlackBerry (like I can't put 2+2 together - ha!). The issue is that we have 4 children now and one is under two years old. He is either at work or in the bathroom with his BlackBerry. Not helping me as you can see. How do I throw this thing out the window before I kick him out on the porch?

- "Pulling out my Hair" in Texas

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  


Dear "Pulling out my Hair in Texas",

I completely understand your frustration. How awful! And being a BlackBerry addict myself, I must say, your husband's addiction is way over the top and his priorities are completely wrong!

A few things:

1. Have a long talk with him about how you appreciate his 5th child, his BlackBerry however, you just can't go it alone with 4 children and the baby and really, truly need his support.
2.
Give him a time limit in the bathroom (seriously-unless he is sick)
3.
Let him know that he isn't fooling you and that family time isn't BlackBerry time. That you know he isn't in the bathroom with some emergent parasite on a regular basis. And if he needs more time with his BlackBerry it's going to have to be on his own time when you don't need his help.
4.
They're his children as well and you can suggest you swap roles. He can take over dinner and chores and you can disappear with your favorite book or magazine or whatever. Believe me that will get through loud and clear quickly.
5.
People First, Then Things (to partially quote Suze Orman).

I hope these help.

- Best Regards, Berry

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Comments
By: timmyr719 | Date: Wed, 10/10/2007 - 07:46

i do the same thing, my g/f (girlfriend) gets jealous...

there IS a reason why we are called "crackberry" users!

By: tommymerf | Date: Wed, 10/10/2007 - 12:00

get the whole family a crackberry and everyone will be preoccupied.

By: spectator52 | Date: Wed, 10/10/2007 - 16:09

If he states, "I gotta go to the bathroom, I will be right back." Take that chance and say, "Oh hey, before you go can I see your BB. I want to try brick breaker or I want to see how this or that works."
I would be interested in hearing the kind of excuses he makes to take it with him or his reaction when you ask that question.

By: totalsk | Date: Thu, 10/11/2007 - 03:19

Check out this article :

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/071010/K101017AU.html

By: PhxBlue | Date: Thu, 10/11/2007 - 18:22

This is all very true. My BB spends as much time in the bathroom as I do...

By: Berry (not verified) | Date: Fri, 10/12/2007 - 05:33

Thanks to all!! Who would think such a small device could have such power - we understand!
Keep those questions ans thoughts coming!

By: mlbagent | Date: Sun, 10/14/2007 - 21:20

my wifes has your same complaint! it more convenient to read my bb than to carry a newspaper with me. Plus, no one can see me scamper off to the potty with bb in pocket.....

By: jhaebre | Date: Tue, 10/16/2007 - 16:50

When ever my mom or mother in law is here, I must admit that I am guilty of disappearing into the bathroom with my Blackberry.

By: beasella | Date: Tue, 10/16/2007 - 20:35

hey fellow blackberrians i am the one of the latest black berrians. i am so a fan blackberry does so many things. however there has been a couple of drawbacks one my carrier starting with a "t" wanted me to have the software upgrade do to some issues. so i did and then my trackerball goes ape and they want me to do another software upgrade. what is the point of having a nice little upgraded phone if you have to have software upgrades to fix everylittle thing. the rep couldnt explain it and i remain a fan but a little discussed does anyone out there in blackberry land out there feel me on this or what.

By: Anonymous (not verified) | Date: Thu, 12/13/2007 - 08:01

I feel ya... Your punctuation and grammatical errors are making me feel nauseous.

By: pnutbudrcherryb... | Date: Thu, 10/25/2007 - 14:17

I have 2 kids and a hubby and sometimes its a bit much in the house so I go to the bathroom and take lil berry along... That's when I'm doing all my cb posts... Hahahah

 
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