The Perils of a Tiny Piece of Fruit...

The Blackberry. It's such a tiny piece of fruit. Beautiful. Delicious. Sweet. Healthy. A blackberry is actually composed of many smaller fruits called drupes and has many health benefits. You can enjoy it in pies, tarts, on ice cream or in a bowl with other berries. When I take cruises I usually order a bowl of mixed berries after dinner every night. I like blackberry jam on wheat toast. I even like to eat plain ripe blackberries with a nice glass of Cabernet. But somehow I have become addicted. And not in a good way. But not the kind you see in the top left photo...
The Blackberry. It's a pocket-sized piece of technology. Handsome. Sleek. Useful. Convenient. But that, my friends is where my story changes. The Blackberry has become an extension of my office. A constant connection to work. Always available. Always connected. It can lead to obsessive-compulsive behavior, checking e-mail constantly. That flashing-alternating red and green light, taunting me. Calling to me. Constant temptation to read the next e-mail coming in. Unlike the fruit, this Blackberry is not healthy at all. Wherever I go, my Blackberry goes with me. At my company there is an unwritten expectation that people with a Blackberry check e-mail all day. Weeknights. Weekends. Be constantly available. On a typical day I receive between 200 and 250 new e-mails everyday. I simply can't keep up with the volume, particularly when I am away from my desk in meetings all day long. So I check my Blackberry all day long, when I first wake up, on my way to meetings, any free moment and before I go to sleep at night. So to me, it has become a particularly perilous piece of fruit. I long for the days when a Blackberry was just a piece of fruit.
-Rick Rockhill