When you’re sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table, waiting for your turn to say what you’re most thankful for, are you going to be the one out of five Americans who say they are grateful for work e-mails? A survey conducted by Xobni and Harris Interactive revealed that about twenty percent of people welcome the messages as a distraction from their functions during the holiday season.
The over 2,000-person survey revealed that 59% will check their email every day this Thanksgiving and December holiday season, with over half of them check their email at least once a day and one-fourth checking their email multiple times. Middle aged men are more likely to sneak some messages during the downtime, although most admit it’s to ease the work flow when they return. A few individuals admitted checking emails helped avoid strange situations, like that awkward family photo that your uncle always insists on taking. Surprisingly, it was people who live in the southern United States who confessed to checking work e-mail more than East and West coasters, who are stereotypically considered to be more absorbed in their work. For some, Grandma’s beer-basted turkey and Auntie’s apple pie just isn’t enough to erase the pain of sitting through screaming nieces and nephews and that one cousin you really despise.
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