For almost two months now, I’ve been the proud owner of a Bluetooth myself. I only wear it for a couple of hours on Saturday morning, while doing the NYT crossword puzzle with Fakesister, and…Woot! Both my hands are free! The NYT crossword site has a chat feature, but neither Fakesister nor I lke it. We want voices. You know, that’s called “talking”. I also wanted a Bluetooth because I thought it would be useful for long trips in the car.
I think it is the greatest advance in technology since the wheel. Today, I learned it was invented by Ericsson in 1994. Who? Who ever even remembers Ericsson? They used to make phones, I think. For more info, check out Bluetooth, And good luck getting past Gaussian frequency-shift keying.
While the technology may have been invented in 1994, it took quite a while to catch on and be mass-marketed. All I know is that sometime in the last 10 years, Bluetooths started blooming in the ears of my cashiers like so many weeds. And I said, You can’t wear that at work.
Their reaction was to look at me as if I and the horse I rode in on needed to get over ourselves. Drag ourselves, kicking and screaming if need be, into the 21st century. So they did what any normal, independent, adult American human being would do. They ignored me. Unless they thought I was going to catch them.
But here is the thing about Bluetooths. When I first put mine on, it feels awkward. But very quickly, I can’t feel it any more. So they make the mistake of forgetting they’re wearing one. So they always, always get caught sooner or later.
So after saying, “Don’t do it” I went to the route of logic. See, I said, it doesn’t look right. It appears to the customer as if you are just waiting for something more important to happen. It has nothing to do with reality, it has to do with appearances and perception. And they look at me like my dogs do: We recognize that you are speaking, but what language is that? Apparently you want us to do something, but we’re going to need a translator.
I am not a fan of the “do it because I said so” school of management (or parenting). But now, that’s just where I am. My new tactic is Just Do What I Said. If you don’t unhderstand it, then…I don’t know what to tell you. Google it or something. Figure it out on your own.
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So are you going to wear it only at home or become part of the Borg and wear it in public too? It is still unnerving to see these Bluetooth folks walking around appearing to be talking to themselves. One day, that appearance will work against them. They will be really talking tos someone around them but that person will think they’re “on the phone.”
Only at home or in the car. Lol @ Borg. And believe me, I’m all too familiar with that scenario of people appearing to talk to thin air. It happens all the time with customers. But it’s also how I catch employees too. Because they forget. The women are especially sneaky and conceal them with their hair. Some years back, I had a problem with women wearing tongue studs. I would say, you can’t wear that at work. But they would forget they were doing it and wear them anyway. It’s like I said, eventually it becomes a matter of insubordination. I told you repeatedly not to do it, and whether you like it or understand it or not, today you are fired. Now you can wear your Bluetooth and your tongue stud to your heart’s content.
I have been a blue tooth user for as long as I was aware of its availability. I can’t stand to use a cell phone while driving that requires me to use my hands which are always much better employed on the wheel. Happy for you that there is one less “terminator” out there.
As for cell phones at work my personal philosophy is that people are humans not robots and humans have human needs that do not wait till one is not at work to deal with. Employers that recognize and honor humanity are more desirable employers than ones who have militaristic policies that discourage humanity. You can’t ever really control what someone is thinking so you might just as well allow them to deal with it as brood over the inability to do so.
Anyway happy blue tooth;)
pt, I know managers who do not allow their employees to have cell phones at work, which I think is extreme. Our employees have children, who need to call them, or the childrens’ schools need to call them. Like you, I think “No Cell Phones” is excessively controlling, and it’s impossible to police. I’m just saying, no Bluetooths. Not no cell phones. It’s a little different when you are in the customer service biz. But I won’t wear mine either. I try not to do anything they can’t do…although sometimes it’s inevitable that you will have to.