Cell Phones and the Registry

The dictionary defines “ubiquitous” as “being everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered.” It’s not a word in my everyday vocabulary, but it works perfectly to describe the role of cell phones in our society. While cell phone use at the registry of could hardly be called ubiquitous, customer use of them has become a major distraction for our employees (me especially) while we are trying to do our jobs. Consequently, we have moved to curtail the use of cell phones within the registry. Our rule is not an arbitrary one – in the midst of entering data on a million dollar sale, we are often distracted by having to listen to one side of a telephonic debate on such pressing issues as what type of pizza to bring home for dinner. And distractions lead to errors. So no more cell phones may be used in the vicinity of the recording counter and other areas of the registry where employees are working. Of course, if there’s a reasonable question unearthed in the midst of the recording process, registry personnel may invite the customer to call the office for clarification.