Turn Off Your Watch, Cell Phone, and PDA

Filed in archive Noteworthy on January 31, 2007

In my youth I was a manufacturers representative. This particular day I was making a detail sales call on small business in a small agricultural town in southern Alberta.

I had to wait to see the owner, he was busy answering the phone taking orders, assisting walk in customers who seemed to keep coming and coming. We would get started and a customer would come in and I would have to step aside so he could help the customer.

This was pretty standard in this industry but two other things were going on. He was a third last call of the day and then I would have a three hour drive home and I had already been extremely patient for the last 30 minutes. My mood was going south pretty quickly.

As he finished serving up another customer, he looked up and sad, "You keep looking at your watch and throwing me dirty looks. You got somewhere else to be? If so, get the hell out. If not, take your damn watch off and lets get down to business."

Ever since that day I stopped wearing a watch.

Do you answer your cell phone when meeting with friends, customers, and staff? Do you answer text messages while trying to carry on a conversation? Chances are if you are a young Gen X or older Gen Y you probably do - what might be socially acceptable within your peer group - is just plain rude with your elders.

Put them away, turn them off, or ignore them when they ring or buzz or else you risk getting kicked out on your ear!