Li Guangdou, a marketing and advertising guru in China, wrote an article last November listing the four most hated modern inventions of white-collar workers. The article became something of a phenomenon and has gained popularity in cyberspace in China in recent months. Xinmin Evening News interviewed four typical white-collars yesterday to discover what contraptions modern professionals dislike the most.

Number one on the most-hated list is the work punch/clocking machine.

Mr. Zhang, 32, works for an IT company. He listed the punch machine as his number one workday enemy after a number of unavoidable incidents made him late to punch in for work. Zhang says most of his colleagues are hardworking people but they feel the boss doesn't trust them when a machine is used to track their time-keeping. Zhang plans to find another job at a company that doesn't use such a system.

Number two is instant noodle.

More and more people today realize instant noodles don't make for a healthy meal but lack of time forces many white-collar workers to eat them instead of a good dinner. Mr. Zhu, 27, is a salesperson who's so busy at work that he doesn't even have time to wash his socks! He regularly eats fast food takeaways or instant noodles for his dinner.

Number three is mattress.

Some veteran employees tell newcomers that having a mattress at work is just like having a home at the company. To encourage their employees to work overtime a number of companies have issued them with mattresses so they can catch a nap under their desks at any time of a day. However, people have started rejecting the mattresses. They're taking better care of their health after the media reported a number of cases of people who died last year because of overwork.

Number four. Last, but not least, the mobile phone.

A surgeon from a Beijing hospital says more and more white-collar workers are turning up with a strange disease they dub "mobile phone elbow." The patients' elbows are painful or numb and sometimes they cannot even raise their arms. The doctor says the affliction occurs when patients spend hours of time daily on their mobile phones.

(CRI.com January 11, 2007)