Monday, May 17, 2010

Cell Phones, Smart Phones, Video Games, Oh My!

The new world of electronics, cell phones, smart phones, brings new rules about what is polite. Is it OK to answer your cell phone if you are talking to someone else at the time? Is texting while talking to another person acceptable ? (Full disclosure here, I actually don't know how to text.) Too much access all the time can blur the etiquette boundary. Today I was told by a friend and co-worker that she noticed I was being "unkind" during a meeting when I checked my email. She was right and I promised not to do it again. I briefly considered counting that as my act of kindness for the day, but decided against it, as it seems more like a commitment not to be rude than a fulfilling a commitment to be kind.

So I felt fortunate when another opportunity arose. I was in a video gaming store on a quest for my son. There are few places on earth where I feel more out of place than this. It's a whole world about which I know very little. The sales clerk could not have been any nicer or more helpful. Most importantly, he managed not to make me feel stupid. So when he handed me the receipt and noted that I could go on line to fill out a survey, which included questions about his job performance, I said absolutely I would. And I did.

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