Biglaw, Blackberry-Crackberry, Reader Polls, Rudeness, Technology

To Blackberry, or Not to Blackberry? That Is the Question

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Recently submitted to Fortune magazine by “Bored in BlackBerryLand”:

I am a recent law-school graduate and, though I’m not yet working at a law firm, I have friends who are. I understand that things in international firms happen 24/7, 365 days a year, and I want to be as supportive of my friends’ careers as I expect them to be of mine.

My question is, to what degree in social settings, on a regular basis, should friends be checking their BlackBerries, and at what point should I say something? What’s rude and what’s truly necessary?

So, readers, whaddya think? Check out what the expert had to say, express yourselves in the comments, and take our poll — after the jump.


The Fortune writer, Anne Fisher, consulted etiquette guru Judith Martin (aka “Miss Manners”). Martin was perhaps more tolerant of Blackberry usage than we might have expected:

“Of course it’s very rude to be doing business during a social outing,” Martin says. “But you should have nothing but sympathy for people who have no time off. It’s very sad to have no time off.”

“And of course you can’t socialize with people who have no time off,” she adds. “It’s as if you were hanging around their desk talking to them while they were trying to get their work done. So leave them alone until they have worked their way up in their careers to the point where they have some time they can call their own.”

What’s your view? Take our poll:

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Friends on CrackBerry? Miss Manners’ advice [Fortune]

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