How frustrating it must be for assistants in stores. I have
seen this happen before but not on such a scale. I first noticed the young lady
by the salad bar, hard not to while her toddler son was loudly reprimanded for
touching the fresh goods. It wasn’t his fault that boredom set in while Mum was
talking on the cell phone. I nearly gave her a piece of my mind but decided
against it and carried on shopping. I met them again at the cash-out and the
phone was still in use. While the assistant sorted and bagged the goods the
young woman continued to send a message to (what looked like) a Facebook
friend. That done, she put the phone in her pocket but immediately pulled it
out to answer a call. To her credit she gave a loud groan but instead of
ignoring it she answered and launched into a long chat. Meanwhile, her young
son helped himself to a few bars of chocolate. Did she notice? No! I was
pleased the assistant charged for the chocolate while the phone call continued.
I pity the poor lad when he was found out!
On another day, in another store, I waited while the girl ahead
of me in the queue bought and paid for what looked like a month’s food supply, doing
the lot whilst chatting on her phone. One handed she emptied her basket, paid
for the goods, took her change and walked out of the store without so much as a
nod or a thank-you or even a cheerio to the very patient assistant. Again at
our corner shop I watched the same behaviour. I said to the guy behind the
counter, ‘you should charge them extra since you do all the work. He laughed
and said he often thought of shouting ‘Fire’ to see what would happen.
It’s always girls. I’ve never seen a lad behaving like that, but
maybe that’s because lads don’t do shopping. Don’t you think that kind of
behaviour is appalling? Have phones completely taken over our lives? Come to
think of it, I use mine a lot, but if someone rings when I’m shopping I ignore
it and hope whoever it is will leave a message. I mean, I can always ring them back!
Its bad behaviour no doubt, and I've seen it happen a couple of times. That's the world we live in, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI am young, have all the technology, but I never let it stop me from living life. I despise it when people can't have a normal conversation, but have to stare at their phones all the time.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Blogoratti, I share your opinion. I often wonder if they're being downright rude or checking what to say next!
ReplyDeleteMersad, good for you. It makes me wonder if mobile phone owners have nothing else in life to do.
Thank goodness the clerks can't do the same while they are work. Can you imagine the double slow down if the clerk and customer were doing that at the same time? Us poor shoppers would never get home :)
ReplyDeleteHi kden. Crikey, that doesn't bear thinking about. It's bad enough on our side of the till.
ReplyDeleteI always feel embarrassed when someone calls me and I am at the checkout. I am aware of how the assistants must feel. It is hard to ignore a phone when it goes though. At least I apologise!
ReplyDeleteIt's the height of ignorance in my opinion but unfortunately seems the norm nowadays.
ReplyDeleteIll mannered and can be very dangerous. Have you seen those YouTubes where one person walked into a fountain, fell over the edge. One person fell into a manhole. Haven't noticed it much while shopping but I will probably take more note now. Only the other day I had a car weaving from one side of the lane to the other in heavy traffic. When I was able to get by, the driver was on the cell phone.
ReplyDeletePearl, you are right. As you say, it is the norm now. I think those that do it should swap places with the assistants and see how they feel.
ReplyDeleteDenise, No I haven't seen the videos... they would probably wind me up even more. It's even worse when they do to while driving; we have laws here but nobody takes any notice of them.
ReplyDeleteJenny, it isn't easy ignoring a ringing phone but it can be done and should be done. Those ringing can easily leave a message.
ReplyDeleteOk. I'll confess> I don't understand this business at all. Maybe I'm too antisocial...
ReplyDeleteTB, perhaps that's the best way to be :O)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the technology but it definitely has turned us into a bunch of rude folks.
ReplyDeleteI've seen both sexes and in the cases of men it's usually a "mature" (immature, rather) fella. Whipping out his expensive toy and showing it off to all and sundry whilst the queue behind him grows. It's all part of the gradual loss of manners.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.