Cell phones in stores

Since I started working my job at a grocery store, I have a new pet peeve. I really hate it when people are in stores talking on their cell phones...especially if they talk loudly.

But what I hate the MOST...people who are in the check out line with their cell phone in their ear and not paying attention. Makes every transaction longer than it needs to be. Working at a natural food store, sometimes we have to ask certain questions like "Is this organic or conventional?" "Paper or plastic bag?" "Credit or Debit?" ETC. And it's hard to talk to someone who is yakking on their cell phone...

So to all of you who talk on your cell phone at the cash register...just hang it up and rip the phone off your ear for ten seconds to complete a stinking transaction...it makes everyone lives easier.

 

my job has a drive through window.....sometimes people won't even acknowledge that you exist because they're talking on the phone. sometimes they treat me like an inconvenience because my asking them to confirm their order or asking for the money distracts them from their phone conversations.

i hate how rushed americans in general seem to be. no one seems capable of doing one thing at a time anymore. times valuable and you have to enjoy it....its misguided to think you're saving time by getting lots of things done simultaneously. it shouldnt be about saving time, but about savoring it.

 

its why it took me so long to get a cell phone. its just a major distraction, even when its no on. falls out of the clip - argh.

but yea, i don't need to talk on the phone all day. i have a cell for emergency uses. but right now its not working, haha

 

I know, that's exactly what I mean...you're trying to do your job...(THEY came to YOU, after all) and, yet, YOU'RE the one that's the bad guy for interrupting their stupid phone calls about absolutely nothing (it seems like).

I think cell phones have turned Americans into big neurotic freaks.

 

not turned so much as helped them veer into that direction even more than previously...

 

Heh, I love how people get annoyed if I don't talk to htem/greet them when they come into my store (retail) while they're on their phone... I usually give them a little nod of my head but it's nigh on impossible to be all "Hi there how're you anything I can help you find today or are you just looking around?" when they're busy yakking away. Same with folks who listen to their mp3 players while shopping.

 

Hmmm...Sucks though..It's gotten harder to exist w/out a cell.
I had difficulty apartment hunting, because they want you to call when you arrive at the property.
I had a tough time finding my family after getting off the plane in a different city too.

I don't have cable television, or a cell phone. Just DSL. *shrugs*

 

Ok I admit, I have been one of those people from time to time. It seems whenever I am in the grocery line, my phone always rings! I'll try to resist the urge to answer it next time

Not to get off topic but what I really cannot stand is when the role is reversed; when the employee's phone rings/viberates when you are ordering food or talking with them. That's kinda tacky.

 

We've lived thousands of years without them.

 

Ah yes it's customer nuances like these that make me want to get out of retail for good. However, such situations have taught me how to be a better customer.

I go out of my way to be polite and friendly to checkers because they've likely been treated like mere tools most of the day.

 

I used to work in a liquor store. Myself and a lot of the other cashiers would ignore people talking on cell phones at the checkout counter; we'd take other customers behind them until they figured out what was going on. If they bitched, I'd say, "Well, you looked like you were busy..."

Call me old fashioned, but along with the current rant, I'm completey opposed to talking on cell phones in restaurants.... so rude.....

 

Get out of my way if your on your cell in the grocery store. These people can't think for themselves. "Do you want mac & cheese? well what size? white cheese or yellow?" WTF?! If you want something & I'm shopping it better be on the list or it is my decision. ahhhhhhhhhhh that felt good.

 

I deliberately bump into people that are on their cell (mobile) phones and have that blank look on their face, like oblivious to anything around them...

I don't have a great response yet to the looks or the "Watch where you're going pal!" that I get, but I just don't see the point in thinking for them

 

Brilliant, heh

eh, if the person is on their own on the cell, not so big a deal. But if it's two people and the one whips out the cell and is on it for more than a minute, I get -REALLY- irked. One of my friends was reeeeally bad for pulling this last year... she's a little less bad, but still does it. It drives me up the freakin wall.

 

while I do not like cell phones and enjoyed NOT having them..I do need one now to keep in touch with my distance gf now as I am to broke to afford having a land line installed.

with that said, you can't really help it if someone calls you LIKE YOUR MOM. I try to avoid it and most times do..its not like the other person calling you is psychic and knows exactly when to call and when not to. I would think that whoever is talking in the check out line would have the sense to say "hold on for a minute" while paying as to not make a mistake in the transaction. I know I do.

but I must ask, what happens when you are placed in that situation you dislike so much someday? maybe not in a line..but somewhere..cause eventually, anyone with a cell will someday be placed in an awkard situation...or even on a land line.

 

it also gets ridiculous
i went to this one concert
and 1/3 of the audience was takeing pictures with their cell phones
and most of the people walking bye are just rambleing on to people on thier phones
its like an alternate reality
and theres some people who when your hanging out they their cellphones on the table
and its like they're saying "you know if you get boring i have other people i can talk to"

 

yah pictures on cellphones at concerts are basically pointless as the pictures are crap (from the many I have seen). afterall, the phones primary function is not to take pictures (go figure). yet these dolts for some reason don't get a camera...

 

I see clients in their home and in mine. They are paying ME for MY time, with THEIR money. You'd think they'd want to make the most of it. Most of the calls are "How's the baby?" type (I work in Infant Maternal care.) But, they could call their freinds back. The smart ones either don't answer or say, "The LC is here, I'll call you back." But, some people go on a blow by blow account of the entire 79 hour labor and birth, while I'm sitting there, and the baby is screaming with hunger. I wanna pull the phone outta their ear and stomp on it when that happens.

Of course, cells are useful. We have three teenages (well, one is 20.) and it is like an electronic leash. They can never tell us, "I couldn't find a pay phone." or "I didn't have change." Of course, we occasionally get "I had no charge on the phone." If my kids leave the house without a fully charged phone, they get grounded.

As for the thousands of years thing, yeah, we lived thousands of years without central heating, without useful medications, without flush toilets, without cars, without computers but, all these things should be used in ways that don't interfere with normal social relations.

There are some studies about how the abuse of cell phones is actually changing casual social structure. Like when you just say "Hi." to people, or greet them in stores ect. People should know when to shut off thier phones, or put them on vibrate and call the person later. Few people NEED to be reachable all the time, without fail. Theatres that's the worst. People just gabbing on the phone, when I have wanted to see a movie, and payed $10.00 a person to do so. Theatres don't have 'pause" and "rewind" buttons in them. Some theatres are actually startting to remove people who talk on the phone during the movie. Great idea!

 

I'm afraid you're going to have to find another hook for most people as making "other peoples' lives easier" doesn't register with them. From my vantage point, the mere acknowledgement of another person is too much of an inconvenience so to alter one's own behavior in consideration of another just doesn't cut it. Perhaps the forcible removal of said cel using a machete or chain saw would be more in keeping with most folks' attitude and be a better method of getting their attention.

 

I don't know about you, but my cell phone has free voicemail...let it go to the voicemail if you are busy...that's what it's there for...to pick up when you are BUSY. So it goes to your voicemail while you're in line...then you can walk out of the store after your transaction and call them back...after all, I also believe MOST cell phones show the phone number or the name of the person that just called you.

It's not brain surgery here.