On line at the Cafe Depot today, the woman ahead of me was talking on her cell phone so hard she couldn’t follow what was going on. When she was fumbling around for her money, and still talking, I got mad and reached over to touch her shoulder. Me: (level but stern): “You’re taking my time. Stop talking.”
The woman was perfectly polite about it. She got her money out, and noted that she had been reaching for it, then paid and took her coffee before she started talking on the phone again.
I always feel silly after I get angry, so it touched me when Lynn, the young monarch of the Cafe Depot counter people, thanked me for saying something. The cell phone people drive the Depot staff crazy, she said, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Then, over by the milk and cream pitchers, a young fellow on staff appeared at my elbow and thanked me too. I had no idea I’d been doing the right thing! I thought I’d just got mad and lost my cool.
Yes. I worked a few nights a week as a barista just last year. I can attest.
One shop around here printed up a big sign about their new "cell-phone tax" and put it up on the wall. $2 if you're caught talking on the phone at the counter. I don't know that they actually charged it, but it got the message across. Even made the local news.One young busybody featured in the piece said she'd just as soon not go to the shop anymore; she has 15 minutes to get coffee and needs to make calls at the same time. Cut to barista: "Fine. Don't come."