I had to make a decision about working food service again; I would make good money in tips, but I would be completely stressed out and have no freedom. Or I could change it up and work in retail for the first time. And can you guess what I chose to do? Yep: retail. Am I crazy for making such a decision? Probably, but otherwise I wouldn't know whether I despised food service more than retail.
Working in retail has been quite the experience. Well, as google defines it, “a grocery store is a retail store that primarily sells food.” So actually, clocking in at the grocery store a few days a week is interesting; much different than food service. Not better or worse, but different. I mean that because I have more time to be personal with people. With the extra time, I observe interactions exchanged between new customers, the regulars and I will occasionally add on my two cents. Each unique individual has different backgrounds and stories, some want to have a full on conversation and some don't, but I always ask the same thing to everyone: “Hi, how are you? Did you find everything OK today?”
What stands out to me the most are those who are younger than me��: teenagers who generally try to avoid eye contact, or at least small talk, by texting. They are glued to their phones. This has got me thinking a lot about the value we place on our cell phones over communicating face-to-face. Obviously, we are all guilty of pulling the phone card when trying to avoid awkward confrontation, refusing to participate in the slightest interaction with the person who is checking out your cart, or at least anyone who is asking how you are (even if it is their job). After several encounters with those teens who couldn’t just reply with an “I’m good, thanks for asking" because they were too distracted by their phones, I began to think some more about my generation who were born just before the cell phone phenomenon.
When I was a kid, I enjoyed playing with toys, going to the park, spending Friday nights with my family binge watching rented movies from Blockbuster, going to the mountains (and not stressing about taking the perfect picture for Instagram) or even enjoying hanging out with someone a whole lot more because we weren’t texting all day. Do these kids know what not talking to someone for a whole day is even like? I am grateful that I got to learn what life was like before everyone had their own cell phone. Without cell phones, I learned how to interact with other people, and how to communicate effectively face-to-face, not screen-to-screen.
Children and teenagers today may have more technological intelligence, but they lack the ability to function in the real world: the world outside of the one in their hand. Based on my observations, I have concluded that the younger generation prioritizes the cyber world above simple human interaction. I am thankful to have been born without being conditioned to have a phone in my hand at all times, and that I am able to enjoy the world without looking through the lens of a cellphone camera. I can make conversations end easily, and I don't have to let the world know about everything I am doing every second in 140 characters or less. Don't get me wrong, though, I am grateful to have an easier way to connect/converse with people, but the moral of this piece is to just put down your dang phone at the line to the register, and respond when asked a question!
