Just realized that I may have slightly misunderstood, but it doesn’t really change things. If the server is talking to someone else while they are taking your order, that is even worse. Manners is part of their job!
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What’s a cell-phone? I don’t have one of those.
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I do have kids though, and I assure you I’m quite capable of being completely aware of when the cashier is ready and keeping small furless mammals from running into traffic at the same time.
Beyond rude. I just hope we never enter a day, although we probably will, where all social interactions of this sort are tainted by those who can’t waste even a few precious seconds away from their devices to take care of business in a civil manner befitting being part of the human race.
And get off my lawn! < does not shake e-cane > 
No.
I have my groceries delivered, but I’m not on the phone while they’re being delivered. If I’m buying something at 7 11 or Walgreens, I’m also not on the phone.
Oddly enough, at the small convenience store in my apartment building, the cashier is usually the one on the phone.
Very occasionally I will get engaged in a call I can’t interrupt just before checkout. I always feel bad and apologize to the cashier.
I also feel bad if I walk away and realize that even though I may have been polite, I failed to make eye contact. So I really do make an effort to look the cashier in the eye and be polite and friendly.
No I would never do it at my local grocery store because I know all the checkers and like to chat with them (and keep an eye on the tape) during checkout. An incoming text can always wait, and I wouldn’t start a text while I was in line, and if I got an incoming phone call it would surprise me so much I would check the phone just to see who the hell was calling me.
I have done it a couple of times. I remember doing it because it felt embarrassingly rude, and it was. However, they genuinely were important calls that had come in after I’d already joined the queue, and I did at least smile apologetically at the shop assistant.
Otherwise I’d at least say “hold on a sec…” in order to speak to the shop assistant.
Round where I live, a couple of the workers/owners in the small corner shops I regularly use are never off their bloody phones. They don’t pause to acknowledge you and huff in an annoyed way if you have to ask them for anything. This is even at the till. It’s also quite common to not be told the amount at the checkout, but have to read it off the display, which occasionally means moving it yourself to make it visible. Yes, I am just here to give you money - no need to treat me like a human at all.
I don’t really use a phone unless it’s for emergencies so I wouldn’t do it, but I think it matters more how it’s handled. If you can deal with your business while you’re on the phone it shouldn’t matter, but if you’re holding up the line it’s rude. At least take time out to say thank you to your cashier.
Only when I’m shopping for someone else - and they’re on the phone advising or confirming the purchase.
I voted “other”, because I live in a country where one does one’s own bagging – so here, the thing is moot.
One says, “Excuse me for a moment” to the person on the phone, and then, “Excuse me while I finish the conversation” to the cashier, and everyone smiles politely, and no-body cares, because it’s not formal dinner party with real silver, chargers, and 24 inch Irish damask serviettes.
Acknowledging someone’s existence is a basic courtesy, but is all that is necessary very often.
So do I, but you still acknowledge the cashier and still usually talk to them.
Well, sure, yes; but it would seem downright perverse, and very inconsiderate with the distraction slowing you down – even with a hands-free device – to talk on the phone while bagging your stuff as the cashier puts it through.
True, but if you’re just buying a coffee or a sandwich then you could talk on the phone if you wanted to. I don’t think the topic was just about your weekly grocery shop.
Treating persons giving you service, as though they are invisible, is never okay. And people think you are an ass, when they see you do so.
So, how about this scenario… If I’m on the phone, but have my debit card ready to the point where I can swipe it without delay, and I smile, make eye contact with the cashier and mouth the words “thank you”, would that be acceptable?
I haven’t slowed down the line and I’ve acknowledged the existence of the cashier, while maintaining the conversation I’m currently having with the person on the other end of the phone.
IMHO, it’s still rude. The person with whom you have the most important interaction going with should get your full attention - if that is the phone, wait to enter the checkout line until you are finished; if it’s the shopping, call the person on the phone immediately after you have completed the transaction. Very few things are so important that they can’t be put off a few minutes to accomodate politeness. I think that gets lost in today’s world of instant gratification.
I don’t think it’s rude in a moral sense, but I don’t do it. I may text or play WWF in line, but as soon as I’m at the cashier s/he has my complete attention. I also take out my headphones, as not to even give the impression I’m occupied.
I did continue blasting my podcast when I went to the ATM after hours last night, but if I were in a drive through where people were involved, off goes the radio.
This happened to me recently at Walgreens. I was sick as a dog, could barely get there to buy orange juice and medicine, and the guy engages me in a five minute conversation. I wish I could have thrown up on his shoes or something. It didn’t occur to me to fake a phone call, I thought my human suffering was enough.
Next time I’ll roll my Shield of Douchebag! Better to be too important to interact with a cashier, than too weak/shy/introverted, amirite?
But why does a cashier require my full attention for the entirety of the transaction? Especially if there’s a lot of things to ring up and bag. Are you saying its rude NOT to engage them in conversation for the entire time? How about plumbers or painters? At some point, you’re better off shutting your mouth and letting the person do their job.