Tethered

I don’t recall my Father ever coming home late from work.  He did go on the occasional business trip for “Ma Bell”, but every night at 5:35 Daddy walked down the street from the bus stop towards our house and I would run to meet him.  He would have a treat or two in his coat pocket that my hand would feel for immediately.   Sometimes his pocket was empty and as I looked up at him with my bottom lip sticking out in disappointment, he would pull a piece of gum or a sweet out from behind my ear…..just like that!
 
Last night I worked until 11pm.  My wonderful husband knows the signs that this is going to happen and graciously brings me food to keep me alive.  He used to ask me when I would finish, but quickly gave up after continually hearing finish times that never materialized.  Now he understands the routine.
 
I am an architect.  Not the type that design houses, I am an information technology architect.  I design systems made up of technologies, people and the processes that keep them working efficiently.  Sounds like a party huh?  By the very nature of my work, I spend a lot of time studying, researching and ‘pondering’.  For each new initiative there is an indiscriminate amount of pondering time before the creative juices begin to glue all my research notes and information together into something that makes sense.  Apparently when this creative juice glue begins to flow there is something in my eyes or posture or attitude that alerts my family to leave me alone and let me type.  So goes the routine….
 
I am not sure if this is similar to an experience a writer has when developing a story.  How wonderful it would be to design that which others could enjoy, rather than that which others must follow as a requirement for their employment.  I guess that is why I blog!
 
Corporate America has come to expect that we will be online after hours answering emails, or at the very least, checking our Blackberry Devices at all times.  Technology advancement has created this 24x7x365 electronic tethering that is very difficult to untie and remain employed. 
 
Daddy had a tether - it was family. He was led to come home each night at the same time to a meal with his family, perhaps a few games or an episode of Gunsmoke.  He didn’t go into work on weekends or carry devices that kept him in contact with his office.  We never saw an expression on his face that led us to stay away so he could work; unless of course it was on the car or his telescope (and even then we were offered the opportunity to participate if we wanted to). 
 
What happened?  It makes you wonder if this “transfer of the tether” or new focus of attention has something to do with the prevalence of family destroyers like divorce, suicide and addiction.  Maybe you think that is farfetched, but think about it; when society is tethered to organizations 24x7x365 that must remain value neutral and cannot express beliefs about God or religion, what happens to the hearts and souls of the people?  How much time is left to nurture ourselves or our families?  What a tremendous loss we have experienced!  
 
Maybe the rise in unemployment isn’t as bad as we think it is. Perhaps society is experiencing an untying of the corporate tether and we are being given back an opportunity for a few episodes of Gunsmoke.