Annual Review of Unavailable But Reachable
Any unavailable but reachable stated as a boundary must be defended even after maintaining it becomes inconvenient.
Field Notes: Unavailable But Reachable
Observer notes compiled December 2022
Site: A holiday that is not a holiday
Initial Observation
Someone tells people they are offline while keeping every contact path available for emergencies. The emergencies are not defined in advance. The emergency classification is applied retrospectively, at the moment of response.
Field Note 1
The subject has posted an away status on all primary communication channels. The status indicates unavailability until a specified date. The status was composed with care. It is accurate in the sense that the subject has no scheduled obligations. It is inaccurate in the sense that the subject continues to monitor all channels through which the status was posted.
Field Note 2
Unavailable but reachable. This phrase does not appear in the status. It is the operational definition of the status. The gap between what is posted and what is practiced is not a failure of the system. It is the system.
First consequence. The first case of unavailable but reachable changes one small decision without being discussed. The subject responds to one message that was not urgent, on the grounds that the response was brief and therefore does not constitute being available. The brief response is available. The subject is not.
Second consequence. After repetition, other people begin adjusting their behavior around unavailable but reachable. Colleagues who learned that the subject responds quickly despite away status now message freely during away periods. The subject has trained this outcome. Nobody acknowledges the training.
Third consequence. Eventually unavailable but reachable acquires an unwritten enforcement system that everyone denies creating. The colleague who respects the away status and does not message is considered polite. The colleague who messages and receives a quick response is considered savvy. Both are correct.
Field Note 3: The Contradiction
The boundary is meant to reduce obligation. Maintaining the boundary is a new obligation, specifically the obligation to appear to be maintaining it while not actually doing so, which is substantially more work than simply being available.
Field Note 4
A limit counts as successful only if the person enforcing it can prove they still care about everyone affected. Proof. Ongoing. Continuously.
The subject remains unavailable. Reachable.