The Slice: Establishing a no-phones zone

Glen Kauffman offered a detailed, thoughtful answer to the question about how a smartphone has changed her life.

“I acknowledge that I love my iPhone, and actively look for additional ways I can use it to make life easier,” she wrote.

But it was something she said near the end of her email that really caught my eye. She wrote that she and her husband, Neil, have a rule where the phones are banned from the bedroom.

That makes good sense, for several reasons. But I wonder how many smartphone users are disciplined enough to enforce such a policy.

Sleep experts used to caution against having TVs in the bedroom. I suppose they still do.

So there is precedent here. Besides, haven’t there been studies suggesting that using these phones immediately before turning in is not conducive to quality rest?

But – and there is no need for a show of hands – I have the impression a lot of us keep our phones on the nightstand, ready to be easily accessed in case the need arises to see how many people have glanced at our latest tweet. Or look up the gross national product of Bolivia.

There is sound sleep and then there is waking up at 3 a.m. and checking cricket results from Australia. The two are quite different.

Remember, ages ago, when some technophiles started referring to those Blackberry mobile personal organizers as “Crackberry” because users seemed to get hooked on checking email, et cetera? Well, smartphones can be even more addicting.

So the banned-from-the-bedroom rule is impressive. But what if you are not as good at setting boundaries as the Kauffmans?

Let me ask you. Do you control your phone or does it control you?

Slice answer: “The cities of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene both have equally beautiful people,” wrote Dave Cain. “The balance swings back and forth in favor of the city where my wife is at the time.”

Help a Midwest seventh-grader doing a project on Washington: This newspaper gets lots of these requests, but I appreciated the fact that this girl chose the Evergreen State because she once visited and liked what she saw.

Send your postcards, maps, brochures or whatever to Emma Hogarth, 13795 Adams Road, Granger, Indiana 46530.

Today’s Slice question: Ever start a romance with the stranger seated next to you at a concert, play or book reading?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Any couple ever break up over garlic?