This is probably a career-ending thing to say but I'll say it anyway. All this using laptops and Blackberry's on the train has got to stop, along with the geeky idea of 24-hour seamless work and home life enabled by mobile technology . Who says so? Well IT giant Microsoft for a start. Well, sort of. The company has put out a survey showing there is an epidemic of 'blackberry thumb' and that work-related RSI cases are at an all-time high with sprialling business costs. OK, admittedly this is from a company that wants you to buy its ergonomically designed hardware.
But haven't we all had enough of the laptop-weilding commuters who take over the whole table top on the train pushing your latte perilously close to the edge, or squashing you against the window to give them elbow room so they can do their incredibly important and urgent spreadsheets. All right, I admit they make me feel lazy and undynamic as I sit there reading celebrity gossip in the free newspaper on the way home from work.
Two points here though. First: you need to get the occupational health adviser or an ergonomist to assess the risks for mobile workers or pay the price in tribunal awards or absence. Second: anyone who can't stop working for a few minutes even when they're in transit needs to get a life. Or at least an earlier less crowded train. Or perhaps jump under one and do us all a favour (taking their mate whose constantly making pointless mobile phone calls with them).
