It is very difficult for me to talk about this. It’s always hardest to admit you have a problem. I can only hope that if I talk about my struggles maybe it will help others deal with their demons as well.

Of course I am talking about a very common addiction that many suffer from and few are willing to admit. I am one of the millions of Americans with Cyber Attachment Syndrome or CAS*. CAS affects many people and it is extremely debilitating. Some of the common side effects are:

Self-importance – the feeling that people MUST be able to reach you at ALL times
Complete loss of social context – no it is not ok to take a call when at a funeral, in the movies, or when your boss has called you into his/her office
An inability to remember any, even the most basic and essential, phone numbers
An irrational anger at poor 3G service (Also mixed with a need to constantly pine for the improvements of the next software rollout).

I realized my CAS had reached a breaking point when it hit me that I’d left my phone at the office tonight. Knowing that I would be there first thing in the morning, knowing it is a 30 plus minute round trip to the office, knowing I wouldn’t see Tiff at all the next day and knowing I had a whiney 3-year-old in the back of the car I still heavily considered driving out to the office to get my missing appendage. You know, “just in case”. It was hard to face but I feel empowered to admit that there is nothing so important that it can’t wait till morning. I might miss a txt tonight from someone wanting to play X-Box and that daily update from NFL.com will just have to wait. I don’t know, somehow the world will still spin…one painful degree at a time.

Friends if you or someone you love suffers from CAS do them and the rest of us a favor…hit them…not on the shoulder, not playfully…hit them in the face…hard. The next time some answers the phone in a theater, pour your drink on them (1st make sure it’s not a matter of national security, that would be embarrassing, then pour your drink on them), call it therapy. If you see someone check their txt messages more than 3 times in a 5 minute span, txt them to let them know they are an idiot (do it with love). And if you don’t know your own home telephone number and/or your spouse’s (or parents for the single) numbers it is time to admit you have an advanced case of CAS.

*Though CAS is something I just made up…seriously people (myself included) get a hold of your lives!

God is Everywhere