I've had this happen to me and I'm not even a cashier!

[Amelia]

From a Retail blog I read regularly.

TURN OFF YOUR FREAKIN PHONE

Sunday, March 25, 2007

I truly believe that talking on the phone while a cashier rings up your purchase is the most egregious display of casual disrespect one can show for another human being in our modern society. Seriously. The only thing worse would be a straightforward insult -- if they came right out and said, “I consider you so inferior and your existence so inconsequential, that I’m going to throw my credit card at you like you’re some kind of robot vending machine while I have a trivial little chat on the phone with someone I’ll see in person less than 15 minutes from now.”

Look, I’m a modern man of the world. I own a cellphone and I’m generally glad that they exist as a handy convenience ... but who the hell are these people constantly talking to?! Unless you’re a powerful stockbroker, hollywood producer or some other big time mover and shaker, you don’t need to be on the phone every 10 minutes!

Sometimes when I work the closing shift, I’ll end up watching some daytime television at home like “Judge Mathis” or “The People’s Court” and on just about every episode, someone is getting sued over a $1,200 cell phone bill. Twelve hundred dollars! How do you rack up a phone bill that big? I don’t think I could generate a $1,200 phone bill if I tried. What’s wrong with these people? Are their lives so empty and uninteresting that they can’t bare to be alone with their own thoughts for even a few minutes while they drive down the road, or buy a pack of gum? Do they have to constantly drown out their sad inner dialogues with mindless chatter? Is their need to engage in a never-ending litany of prattling phone calls so strong that it overrides their sensibility to offer the most basic courtesy of acknowledgment to the person who’s waiting on them?

I think the sad truth is that most people just think they’re better than the cashiers at the mall, or the grocery store, or the movie theater. They see us as second class citizens who aren’t worthy of a simple “hello” or “thank you

[Dr. Shane]

I hate talking on the cell phone but in my line of work I can rarely spend a few minutes in the restroom without the phone ringing. I liked it before when I worked for a company that couldn't justify the cost of giving me a cell phone. I think those days are over.

[Bravus]

I think the cashier one is fairly easy to solve... ask them a question and don't move until they answer it. It'll annoy the people in line behind the rude phone-user, but social sins get social sanctions...

[cricket]

Quote:

The only thing worse would be a straightforward insult -- if they came right out and said, “I consider you so inferior and your existence so inconsequential, that I’m going to throw my credit card at you like you’re some kind of robot vending machine while I have a trivial little chat on the phone with someone I’ll see in person less than 15 minutes from now.”

This is why we now have self check-out registers in all our major groceries and general retail stores.

[bevin]

$500 or more phone bills are easy to rack up if you are calling somewhere your plan likes to penalize - for instance paying $5/min to call Timbuctoo

/Bevin