My Blackberry inexplicably died on Saturday afternoon while napping on the kitchen counter. Two years of age seemingly put the kibosh on the device’s ability to connect to T-mobile.

So I called T-mobile to solve the issue. It turned out my phone had in fact died and was no longer under warranty. I would need to buy a new phone.

Reality bearing down, I decided to do what I’ve done so many times to successful results as a consumer: ask if my continued business would be worth an exception — in this case having to fork over $100 for a replacement.

“You’ve been with us a long time, Mr. Snow,” the last manager happily said over the phone. “We’ll send out a new phone right away (read: your $1200/year cell phone account is worth a $100 concession).”

Half of life is simply asking.

The Wall Street Journal reports of the effects of Blackberry parents on their children which are cleverly called Blackberry orphans. From the article: “They are fearful that parents will be distracted by emails while driving, concerned about Mom and Dad’s shortening attention spans and exasperated by their parents’ obsession with their gadgets. Bob Ledbetter III, a third-grader in Rome, Ga., says he tries to tell his father to put the BlackBerry down, but can’t even get his attention. ‘Sometimes I think he’s deaf,’ says the 9-year-old.”

I like my Blackberry, not just because I’m addicted to email, but because when used effectively, it lets me attend to business without sacrificing flexibility. However, I don’t want my one year old daughter to grow up with a father more concerned with a portable piece of plastic than her company. More importantly, I know my wife could do without the constant checking. (Commits to leaving the Blackberry in my office after 6pm.)

[via Lifehacker]