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Leave Your BlackBerry Behind at the U.S. Open

Think you can carry your BlackBerry at the U.S. Open on Long Island? No, you can’t have it on you or in your pocket with a promise to keep it turned off. U.S. Open officials won’t allow it.

Portable wireless devices like the BlackBerry are forbidden on the course. If you don’t leave your smartphone behind, the metal detectors will nail you, and then you’ll have to do the “hat check” routine and leave that little devil at the entrance for pickup when you exit the venue.

Said one U.S. Open spokesperson, “Concentration is paramount in this sport. Talking in the midst of a backswing or a six-foot putt can be disastrous. We urge everyone to just leave his or her BlackBerry at home.”

Watching a practice round on Monday, Rick Brindell was so accustomed to wearing his BlackBerry on his belt, he swore he could feel it vibrating. More than once he reached for what he thought was a call. An insurance broker from Bay Shore, Brindell is constantly checking his e-mail. “I feel absolutely naked without my BlackBerry on my belt,” he said.

Meagan Groneman fought the urge all day—mentally attempting to check for text messages from her BlackBerry that she had left in her car. “It’s just a strange feeling,” the 20-year-old college student from Smithtown said. “My impulse is to check for messages, but there’s nothing there. I also had to leave my iPod behind, but I think I’m getting used to it. The disconnection actually feels good.”

“Well, I’m in withdrawal,” U.S. Open volunteer Anthony Russo said, minus his BlackBerry. “You can imagine, being an attorney, I’m always on the phone. I got a break at the 10th hole though. I was able to use one of the public telephones from a tent. Of course, I stayed on one call for at least 15 minutes. My fellow volunteers really teased me about my addiction.”

On numerous occasions, you could hear someone in the crowd whispering, “You got the time?” Such was the case with Joe Bembry, who apparently relies on his BlackBerry so much, he has dispensed with wearing a timepiece. “I don’t even own a watch,” he said. “I just hope I can remember to ask someone else later during the day what time it is. My son and I don’t want to miss our train back home to Montclair. That would make for a real inconvenience.” Of course, Bembry, being in the wine retail business, was also concerned about what he was going to face at work the next day. “Between the BlackBerry calls and the e-mails,” he said, “I imagine it’ll take me most of tomorrow morning to catch up. But that’s a small price to pay for spending some time here at the U.S. Open with my son.”

Interestingly enough, several people like Ken Klevitz of Farmingdale welcomed the opportunity to dispense with his BlackBerry. “It doesn’t bother me a bit that no one can reach me,” he said. “In fact, it’s a very pleasant reprieve. It’s like de-stress time, and our society certainly has enough stress. Besides, we’re only out of pocket for five to six hours, and then we can activate our BlackBerry and rejoin the rat race.”

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