We all love our tiny little gadgets, they tell us what time it is, let us check the Internet, keep us in touch with everyone, and they go wherever we go. Yet, the very thing we think is helping us be more productive may just be ending any real vacation we can ever take.

Have you ever been in the car on the way to work and received a call, asking you to hurry up? Has your boss called you while you were in the shower, or worse, on a date? You think you're free from the job, but with the cell phones, our jobs can now follow us home. Say goodbye to your down time!

So, what happened to us? In a world moving at such a fast pace, employers are now able to contact their employees in real time. No matter if you're ready to get on a plane with your family, that employer is now in your ear, distracting you from having any real vacation, and interfering with your family time. An employer doesn't pay you overtime for those calls, but they expect you to pick up your phone to answer any question they may have, and we just let it happen.

Cell phones are taking over our lives, leaving us little or no time to think about the actual events going on around us. In some instances drivers have been known to cause accidents while on cellphones, missed their exits while on cell phones, and have driven 10 miles too far because the conversation was much more involved than their driving was. Does that scare anyone?

If that doesn't scare you, well it should. A cell phone cannot replace the quality time you spend with your friends and family and bringing that work home with you is just ludicrous. Would you bring your desk home with you? An employer should realize that a vacation means that anything that needs to get done, should be done prior to your leaving, and not while you're on vacation. Otherwise you are owed another vacation, if not more days off during the week to make up for time lost on the phone trying to do your job.

It's a tough world. People are more disconnected than ever to their families, even though they have a cell phone that keeps them connected, now isn't that funny. The very technology that is suppose to make things easier and free up our time is consuming us. I can't just blame the phones, but people are also to blame. We have traded in our families for a tiny gadget that couldn't give us anything more than a ring tone in exchange for our attention. We will run to a cell phone store and wait hours in line for a new gadget rather than spend that same time playing ball with our kids or visiting our parents. In the end the American family has gone from Apple Pie to Apple I, and until we get a grip on our lives, we will continue to see our kids, families, lives, fall at the wayside.

Give it up, like you give up coffee or cigarettes or gambling. The only difference is that you'll be gaining some TRUE free time. Leave the phone off during trips, ask your boss not to call you during your vacation or weekends. The idea is to start the process of getting your family back on track. Even if you cannot see it, it's evident all around us, technology has ruined the family structure and until we get a grip, it will only get worse. So, next time your kid says, "hey dad, want to play ball," and it's a Saturday, turn off your computer, put down your phone, and play some ball with your son. You'll never get more satisfaction out of life than that of a child who loves you.

Learn more about this author, Maria Salazar.
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