According to the so-called Clarke’s third law, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and this statement applies doubly to smartphones. Because it is definitely impossible to call the absolute penetration of smartphones into all areas of our life anything other than magic. We use phones anytime, anywhere, including at work.

We usually spend our lunchtime at work with a smartphone in our hand, because when else to watch the latest news or play games, if not during a break? What if your office doesn’t have a kitchen, and management is so petty that it’s forbidden to use smartphones at the desk? Well, that would be the story recently described by user u/HenRob_6327.

More info: Reddit

The author’s wife once worked at a company whose office had no kitchen and even no balcony

Image credits: waferboard (not the actual photo)

So the woman had to have her lunch at the desk – and she often scrolled her phone during these breaks

Image credits: HenRob_6327

However, some of the colleagues reported her for using her phone during working hours

Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual photo)

Image credits: HenRob_6327

Therefore the managers banned any phone usage while at the desk

Image credits: Tony Webster (not the actual photo)

Image credits: HenRob_6327

The woman just decided to join the smokers and started scrolling her phone while standing outside – spending way more free time than before

So, this was about twelve years ago, and the heroine of the story will be the wife of the Original Poster (OP), who at that time worked in a company whose management was too stingy even to provide employees with a separate place for lunch breaks. In general, employees ate literally at their workstation, and those who smoked went outside, because there was no balcony in the office either.

What the company had was a strict ban on using a work PC for personal purposes. So the author’s wife, during her lunch break, just took her phone and scrolled – until it turned out that colleagues reported her several times, mistakenly believing that she was using the phone during work hours. And then a new severe ban came from the higher-ups – now it was also prohibited to use phones while at the desk.

However, our heroine was not particularly upset. This time she simply joined the employees who took a break for a smoke, and went outside with them. While they were smoking, the woman calmly read Twitter, Instagram, etc., thereby getting much more time on the phone than she would have during her lunch.

This is how the pettiness of the company’s management deprived the organization of a fair amount of the employee’s working time – and later the employee herself, because, as the OP recalls, his wife began to seriously consider the option of changing jobs and soon left this company. But that’s actually a completely different story…

Image credits: Roger W Haworth (not the actual photo)

Yes, many companies nowadays have their own cell phone policies and, for example, Indeed strongly recommends that employers detail all the nuances when establishing such a policy, and even offers several templates. This is done primarily to avoid such situations like the one described in today’s tale. “Your policy should state when and where employees are allowed to use their cellphones and if there are any disciplinary actions for violations. A clear set of guidelines reduces miscommunications,” Indeed says.

On the other hand, a smartphone is one of those things that is damn addictive. If today, an employee picks it up at lunchtime, tomorrow they probably would start scrolling and get distracted during working hours! This is probably what many managers think. In any case, according to Dawn Rosenberg McKay, a certified career development facilitator, it is better for the employee to think about reasonably limiting phone usage themselves.

“Excessive cell phone use at work can interfere with productivity. Even if your employer doesn’t ban their use, it’s a good idea to limit yourself. Avoid temptation by keeping your phone in a desk drawer and checking it only occasionally to make sure you haven’t missed any critical calls,” the expert writes in his article on liveabout.com. But the phone policy should still be thought out and take into account all the aspects of the work of each employee.

Moreover, while communicating with commenters, the author of the post also noted that during her lunch breaks, his wife even stuck a little sticky note on her desktop screen saying “on lunch” – but some of her colleagues complained about her anyway! And folks in the comments are also surprised that smokers still get in fact more breaks than non-smokers in many companies. However, this is a question for a completely different post, and now we are interested in your opinion about this tale, so please feel free to express it in the comments below.

People in the comments praised the employee for a smart and witty solution yet expressed some surprise at smokers still taking more breaks than non-smokers

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