Multitasking to a fault

I was going through the checkout line at our neighborhood Safeway the other day when it happened. I was listening to my iPod with my wrap-around earbuds and typing the last few characters of a text message when the cashier rang up my purchase and turned to me for payment.

Caught off guard, I quickly turned off the music and finished the text, then reached for my wallet.

What was I thinking? Was I really trying to do two or three things at once? Why? What was so important that I had to send a text while my groceries were being bagged?

The cashier gave me a half-smile and waited patiently. He should have given me a scowl. I felt profoundly embarrassed and, suddenly, self-indulgent. Right then and there, I vowed never to do that again.

Coincidentally, that same night, as I was looking for a photo to illustrate a recent post, I stumbled upon a blog by Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, and a post she' d written just a few days earlier wrote about cell phones and civility.

According to a recent "mobile etiquette" survey commissioned by Intel, she noted:

U.S. adults see an average of five mobile “offenses,” including the use of mobile devices while driving or talking loudly on a mobile phone in public every day.

Among the respondents who reported seeing offenses, 56% saw car drivers using mobile devices, 48% saw people using one in a restroom and 32% saw them used in movie theaters 

Top pet peeves include talking while driving and talking in a loud voice in public places

74% of survey participants believe that poor mobile manners have created a new type of rage (like road rage but directed at technology users)

65% say they become angry or outraged when they see these offenses . . . YET

20% say they continue to misuse technology because "everyone else is doing it."

I'll admit I can become easily aggravated when I'm stuck behind someone who's driving too slow or talking on a cell phone in an inappropriate place. But until the Safeway  episode, I hadn't seen myself as part of the problem (even if I was texting, not talking).

Brené Brown

"But here's the thing," Brown writes. "Our behaviors are choices and they are completely within our control. Unlike some of the other stressors that we have to navigate on a daily basis, we can ease some of the pressure that we all feel by treating each other with more respect."

I didn't consciously mean to disrespect the cashier but that's certainly how it must have come across to him and other shoppers.

Brené Brown ended her post with a challenge to her readers, one that attracted 73 responses, and I repeat it here.

"Here's what I propose we do to affect (sic) a small dose of change: Leave a comment telling us one  thing that you are currently doing that you'd be willing to change for one week. For example, talking while you're walking down the street or ordering fast food, or answering the phone when you're at a restaurant. 

"Also tell us one thing that really, really bugs you. My one thing is here. I'm going to give up talking while I'm grocery shopping."

What do you say, folks? Is there something you're willing to change?

Image and photo: www.brenebrown.com