So this lady came to the counter today and was standing about 20 feet away from me talking on her phone intently but kept glancing at us like “Are you going to help me or not? ” kind of look on her face. So when I asked her if she needed any help she rudely shook her head and gave me that “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” gesture. But of course when she hung up her phone and was looking for someone to help her I was all ready on to the next person matching up her foundation.
It went a little something like this.
Cell phone lady: “Is there anyone else here who can help me?”
Me: “Not right now but I’ll be right with you as soon as I am done helping my customer.”.
CPL: “Well, I’m in a hurry. I’ll just have go to another counter where I can get some help”.
Me: Thinking “Well if you weren’t blabbing so much on your phone and rude to me in the first place I probably could of helped you and got you out the door quicker than your too long phone conversation!”
The most annoying thing of the moment is cell phone etiquette, or lack thereof. I can’t tell you how many times a customer comes up to the counter with their cell phone up to their ear and are talking in a deep conversation and they may or may not be looking at you. If they are looking intensely at the eyeshadows and still holding the phone to their ear than more than likely they don’t want to be bothered and just want to look with no interruptions and I’m fine with that. But when they are giving us the evil eye like why aren’t we helping them…..well, that gets a little tricky. We aren’t sure if we should come and ask you if you need help, because that would be rude to interrupt you while you are talking and at the same time if we don’t ask you we might be getting the stink eye from you. If you really want our help please get off your phone and ask us for help. Don’t be saying into the phone “I’ve been here for 5 minutes and not one person has come to ask me if I need anything”. I’m going to go to the person who isn’t involved in a deep seated convo about who you slept with last night and how you think this could be the one who will be your future husband.
Also, don’t be on your phone if you want your makeup done. I’m not going to work around your phone and/or conversation. Same for texting. Which is annoying and rude when you should be closing your eyes because I’m trying to line your eyes with some wicked black eyeliner. So I will politely step away and tell you that I’ll come back when you are done. Trust me that usually works. Other wise they may be there all day because I can easily step away to help someone else who also needs my attention.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my phone more than anybody. But I will tell the person I’m talking to that I will call them back if I am about to purchase something or need to have a conversation with another person so I’m not trying to talk to two people at once. Just good phone etiquette.
A Diary of Life Behind The Makeup Counter. 