The trouble with cell phones...or maybe with retail...or maybe with people

I was working at the cash register at my bookstore last night. A woman approached the counter with 3 or 4 books, and was talking on her cell phone. I carried on as I would with any other customer, ringing up her purchases, asking her the appropriate questions, etc. Every time I asked her a question, she would answer me and then apologize to the person she was on the phone with for interrupting her phone conversation.

Really? Do I not qualify as a person worthy of having a conversation with? Or even if not a conversation, do I not qualify as a person worthy of just a smidgeon of respect?

I experience this a lot at my store. I'd say it has something to do with the neighborhood in which it's located, although I suspect the same is true in lots of other retail establishments in other neighborhoods as well. (And in restaurants -- don't forget about the waiters and waitresses. They're people too!)

This is usually how it goes: someone comes into the store looking for a book. So far, so good. They ask me to help them, and I do. Here one of two things can happen: (1) I give them their book and they carry on with their day without another thought about me; or (2) we start talking and they realize I'm older than I look. Then they learn that I have a graduate degree and something resembling a brain. Then they realize I'm someone who's perhaps worth 30 seconds of their precious time, and we chat.

In truth, either of these scenarios is okay with me. I understand that sometimes people are just busy, and sometimes they don't like talking to people they don't know. I don't have a problem with that; I fall into the latter category myself. But it's people like the woman who came in last night, who can't even do me the courtesy of asking the person on the phone to wait a minute while they have a face-to-face interaction with a real live person, who absolutely make me crazy.

So I end with a plea: please do me a favor and get off your phone (and take out your earphones, etc.) when dealing with someone face to face. It shows that you respect them as a person, even if they are just selling you books.

Besides, if what you have to say is really that important, shouldn't you be talking face-to-face with the person on the phone, rather than running your errands anyway?