So I’m not sure that my story reaches the “absurd” standard, but I HATE, HATE, HATE my husband’s blackbery. He runs the Connecticut Working Families Party. Anyone with any experience with left-wing (or I guess any form) politics, knows that this work consumes people. Everthing is secondary to the mission.
As a result, my husband will pick up that THING everytime it beeps. He’ll answer calls during dinner (inclduing my legal aid firm’s 30th anniversary celebration), text in the middle of a movie, and email while we’re in the midddle of a conversation. Your “Car Talk” staff would also be horrified to learn that he also does these things while driving. It’s embarassing, annoying, and (sometimes) hurtful. I never feel like I really have him. I’m just waiting for the next beep to take him away.
I know you excluded cell phones, but I wanted to share this anyway(perhaps to deal with lingering guilt). I used to have the Rare Earth single “I Just Want To Celebrate” for my ringtone. Last year I went to the funeral of a relative. Halfway through the service, I remember that the cell phone is on and in my shirt pocket. I debated on shutting the phone off, but I knew the phone would do it’s little “shutting-off music”, and I didn’t know how to switch the thing over to vibrate, so I decided to take my chances. The pastor is giving the closing prayer to the service when (you guessed it) my phone starts blaring “I just want to celebrate another day of livin’. I just want to celebrate another day of life!” I quickly jerked the phone out of my pocket and put it under my leg to muffle the music, but the damage was done. I could have died right there. I glanced around, and my sister-in-law was giving me this “what the hell were you thinking?” look. I just rolled my eyes and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Needless to say, I do a phone check now before I go into any funeral service.