Why It's OK to Check Your Email on Thanksgiving

According to a recent survey from Xobni, conducted by Harris Interactive, a lot of people will be taking a break from Turkey and football this Thanksgiving to check their work email. And the numbers are actually rising, from 60 percent to 68 percent of respondents saying that at some point during the big day they’ll sneak a peek at their business email. One in four will even check multiple times.

And that's not a problem. Or even much of a big deal.

Checking email isn’t a big addition to holiday stress. In fact, it is often seen as a way to take a break from the family, even if just for a few minutes. PC World recently eported that 19 percent of people say checking work email is a relief and not a burden. The article noted, “It is a distraction from the noise, stress, and other family drama that typically comes with large family gatherings.”

But isn't even that idea making too much of the situation? Is checking email, even work email, really such a big deal anymore? Yes, we live in a society that seems to work all the time. But does checking email really take away from time off? Personally, I find the ability to check email actually does just the opposite. It ensures that I don’t worry about what I might face when I return after a break. It means I’m not completely overwhelmed with “catching up” when I get back to the office.

As I’ve noted over the years, I’ve traveled to distant lands with my . I was at the Pyramids in Egypt and, yes, I checked my work mail, I have been to the canals in Venice and checked email -- and I would have checked email while at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem but that was the one place in the world where I couldn't get cellular reception!

The big boost in constantly checking work email comes because so many of now carry mobile smartphones that make it quick and easy. It isn’t really a burden to pull out the phone, click a few buttons, see what emails have come in and get on with the rest of a vacation or holiday.

Years ago I also checked email while traveling -- even on vacation -- but it meant dashing to a cyber café, paying a few dollars and having to worry about security, dealing with dirty keyboards (often with unfamiliar key layouts) -- generally taking a signicant chunk of time out of a trip. This wasn’t stopping for a second and glancing at the tiny screen in my hand, this meant hunting down an actual computer and Internet connection everywhere I went.

Holidays are just more of the same. So what if I check email in between chatting with the family? Chances are my wife, uncle, cousins, sister, and brother-in-law will all be doing the same thing at some point.

What is interesting to me is that Xobni repoted that it was middle-aged workers who are most likely to check work email. While I admit I pretty much fall into that group, I do so not out of fear (as the findings may imply), but simply because I can. And consider that many “youngsters” can’t go more than a few minutes without texting someone.

As a reporter who covers technology for a living I have a certain perspective on how far we've come. A recent episode of HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire" showed folks gathered together in a concert hall in 1921 to listen to a radio broadcast of a Jack Dempsey prizefight, while another character marveled how marvelous it was for someone to cross the Atlantic in a mere six days and to send a telegram stating that he had arrived! Now on Thanksgiving families gather together, flying great distances in a few hours, and sit together on the couch to watch football in high definition.

Technology has come a long way, so is it really any surprise that we’d want to check email and stay connected with folks who aren't there with us? After all, how much food can a person eat, and how much catching up can one do?

Work email can indeed be a welcome escape sometimes!