Take this chum of mine who had the perfect vacation planned, having been invited to his friend’s wedding at a magnificent 15th-century Scottish castle hidden miles away from the nearest city. A pre-wedding party had also been organised and the chap had everything ready — air tickets, a tux and a wedding gift.
But everything came crashing down when he happened to mention to his boss that because of the castle’s remote location, there was unlikely to be any mobile phone reception — to which his boss flat out told him holidays without access to your BlackBerry were a no-no.
Of course, there was nothing about this no BlackBerry rule in writing but after the boss’s blunt disapproval of his holiday, the chap had no other option but to cancel his much-awaited trip. And with last-minute tickets to other destinations too expensive even for his wallet, he instead decided to stay put in Hong Kong.
I couldn’t help but feel for him and tried to cheer him up with talk of this new game everyone seems to be obsessed with. If nothing, at least he could walk around the neighbourhood and try catching some of these creatures to help clear his mind.
He seemed unimpressed with my suggestion, but after a couple of drinks he downloaded the game. And within minutes, I had lost him. Ah, technology – can’t live with it and you can’t live without it.