I ride up on my bike the other day to the farmer’s market to stop for a little lunch on my way to work. I stop at one of the prepared food stalls to get a sausage sandwich only to find both of the guys working–one of them the owner–fingering their phones.

Seriously?

Put that thing away. I was really craving that particular sandwich, but that whole phone thing put a bad taste in my mouth (like my pun?). When first I rolled up and stopped at the food stall it was clear that they couldn’t be bothered to take their eyes off of their phones. As it turned out, I couldn’t be bothered to order one of their sandwiches. Guess I wasn’t craving that particular sandwich as much as I thought.

Guess I’ll get my lunch elsewhere

What is so important? How on earth did we ever survive before cell phones? Why do you feel the need to be on your phone all of the time?  It is such a turn off–even when you aren’t in the service business.

One time I was in a restaurant when I heard a cell phone ring–it was clearly not the restaurant’s business line–and I watched as a server, walking through the dining room, answered his phone! For a second I thought, “Wow, I can’t believe that one…”  But I quickly realized that, yeah, I could.

Common place

How many times have you walked in to a restaurant only to find the host, or the manager, or a server, or the bartender, on their phone? Either talking on it, texting on it, or looking at some video, or game?

Why are the owners, or the managers of these places allowing this to happen? One of the problems is that it is the owners and the managers who are being the worst offenders. The funny thing is that these restaurant employees can often be heard complaining about customers talking on their cell phones, or taking pictures of their food and snap chatting, or instagraming….

Be present

I know a handful of people who are incapable of being present. No matter what they are doing there is always something better on the horizon. I feel sorry for these people. But there is no excuse for it when you are in the HOSPITALITY business. Being present is what it is all about. Observing what is happening on any given night, and reacting to it is what we do. That can only happen if we are ever-present and paying attention.

So pay attention! Get off of that phone!