Can we get another sign saying "If your phone rings while you're paying, finish paying and get out of the way before you answer it and have a long, loud, pointless conversation." Especially if you're the lady with the tacky nails, too tight and too short shorts and flip flops who was in front of me at Starbucks. And it's 42 and raining here today, why are you wearing shorts and flip flops?

(can you tell I haven't had a chance to finish my Mocha?)

I used to post regularly on a etiquette forum. Even on that board there was a huge number of people who just did not get it regarding cell phones and the person behind the counter. It was really disheartening. "My husband is more important than the counter person - why shouldn't I talk to him. I don't wanna make small talk with a stranger anyway. And I swear *I'm* different. I can pay attention to both conversations at once. And the service people have no right to be upset by it because they just shouldn't."

And this was a group of people who got together to discuss manners!

The other day at the supermarket: the lady checking out in front of me was yakking (loudly) on her cellphone about everything and nothing, never acknowledged the presence of the cashier, then walked away with her two children, still yakking. Amazed, I followed her up to her car, far in the parking lot. Never stopped yakking. At one point, one of her children said something to her, but she didn't even hear him.

Another reason to love my pre-paid plan. It provides cost incentive to keep my public phone conversations brief (and a convenient excuse to get off the phone with my father, who has been known to have 6 minute conversations with my answering machine, remember those?)

I worked retail for many years (until my layoff last year, actually) and was constantly amazed by the use of cellphones at the checkout counter. I can't even imagine wanting to be on the phone with someone while interacting with another person. And Elle's right-- most people who do it swear that they're different because they can multitask. Blech.

My favorite example that happened to me was when I was working checkout at my most recent retail job. A woman was on her phone yakking away to someone (just chatting, not anything important or urgent) while I was ringing her up. She took the phone away from her mouth only to accept change from me, then she apologized to the person on the phone. Like "I'm so sorry I had to pause our conversation about the annoying woman in accounting in order to actually interact with the human being in front of me." Seriously, that was her attitude to whoever was on the phone. I've had many customers not acknowledge me at all while talking, but to apologize to her friend for looking at me just took the cake.

I always feel bad when I have to make a call while in a store, like a few weeks ago when I was picking up some cupcakes and they didn't have the flavor my friend wanted. I had to call her to read the names of the ones they did have, so I had to stay in the shop while I called her, but I still felt bad about it and apologized profusely to the two employees behind the counter. They were kind of nonplussed by my apologizing, actually, so I guess they'd just come to expect being ignored for the person on the other end of the phone call.

NumberSix, I know what you mean. I don't work in retail, myself, but I've seen the kind of thing you're talking about. It's less common where I live, because there are still a lot of Country Folk around here who were raised with manners, but it does happen.

That said, I was just listening to a frightening conversation on the bus this morning: The woman said that she had been on her bicycle when she saw a woman talking on her cell while driving go off the road and hit a tree. Then, still on the phone, she put it in reverse, backed up and hit a light pole, and at some point in this event was headed straight for the bicycle, so my friend jumped off the bike and away as fast as she could. I guess the other woman stopped and got out of the car at some point, because the woman telling this story said she asked the other woman if she was all right, and the woman turned her back on her and kept on talking on the phone.