Rod MacKenzie was excited to be home from work before his wife.

He fed the dog, popped open a Diet Pepsi and settled onto the couch to watch his favorite TV show. Then the phone rang. It was his wife, calling from the car on her commute home. She started telling him how her boss had changed the focus of the project she'd stayed up late to finish. Mr. MacKenzie, 36, kept watching TV, every few minutes murmuring "uh huh"—and failing to hear her when she asked if he was listening. When he failed to answer, she hung up.

Michelle MacKenzie wasn't too happy by the time she walked in the door. Spotting his empty soda can in the kitchen, she asked him, "What have you been doing since you got home?"

"You're looking at it."

"Have you thought about dinner?"