Technology and Restaurants
I love my cellphone as much as the next person. I’m well aware that I pretty much couldn’t do very well without it these days. However, these new technologies (smartphones) can have some pretty interesting effects in society. Check out this ARTICLE on technology and restaurants.
Thoughts?
This article was completely true, although I don’t think I take that long to order my food or even wait an odd amount of time to eat my food after it’s delivered, I bet it does happen with a lot of other people. Times have changed and smartphones are part of everyone’s lives, but I never thought about how it might affect restaurants and I see how this can be extremely negative. Other then people being more considerate and understanding that they are wasting an absurd amount of time by doing this I’m not sure what restaurants can do. If they put no cell phone signs up or decided to not allow phones it would cause an uproar and I doubt it would work or even last! I wonder what other industries that have experienced other problems.
This article was very interesting to me. It really opened my eyes to think twice on how, where, and when I should use my cell phone. I believe customers were more dissatisfied because of their own actions. Customers would have been happier and the restaurant would have had better service if the customers had more consideration.
I actually read this article a few weeks ago. The biggest take away I have to it was that I am guilty of using or wanting to use my phone to mitigate any time spent waiting. I try my best to avoid the urges, and also agree that it would be nearly impossible for me psychologically to get by without it anymore. My grandpa always tells stories about how when they worked they’d have to drive 15 minutes to aska question on a job and 15 minutes back. Now I can be called 15 times a day anywhere for the same job.
A little strange this article didn’t mention anything about employees themselves using the technology or the impact it has on their service. In my experience working in a restaurant, it is a constant battle to keep the employees off their phones too. They’ll hide in a corner where they think no one sees, or hide in the bathroom to get their tech fix. Also, my wife and I consider ourselves somewhat frugal, so when we go out to eat we usually have a coupon that is viewable on our phone, that we must show the waitstaff. This is pretty common and was also not mentioned in the “study,” when talking about customer/employee/phone interaction.
I will never understand why people want to stare at a device that always seems to have something better going on than what’s around them. I see it everywhere, zombie people staring into their hands, unable to just enjoy being where they are or the company they are with. I understand the utility, I have a smart phone myself but you will never see me sit on it just wasting time. I think its more fun to sit back and watch other people waste theirs.
As a waitress I can relate to this article. People take pictures of their food all the time where I work, and honestly I think it is super weird. A huge pet peeve of mine is when people come in to eat and are on their phones the entire time…I don’t know about anybody else but I like to actually have a conversation with the person I’m with when we’re out to eat. I can’t live without my cell phone and I have been guilty with using it while waiting for food but sometimes it gets a little out of hand.
The craziest part about this article is that it is true. Cellular devices have become the main priority in today’s society. Though I am not innocent with becoming distracted in public with my phone, I would like to think I am not as bad as illustrated in this article. But if we’re going to be honest, the author of the article described the average restaurant experience almost perfectly. The first thing people do when they are seated (or even before) is get on their cell phones. In fact, they are so distracted with their phones they don’t even realize that they are the cause of the problem they complain about. But what do you do in a situation like this? You cant tell people to put their cell phones away because you’ll lose business. But if you let it continue how it is then you lose business as well. This is a tough situation for the owner and the customers don’t even realize the crucial role they play in it.
As terrible as it is, I would be lost without my phone. It’s stupid. However, I am not glued to is 24/7. I think this article really opened up my eyes on how this will progress is future generations. I think this whole being glued to your cell phone epidemic will only get worse. It sucks that this restaurant is taking the heat because other people’s stupidity, but what can you do? I work in customer service as well, and I like to make a point of being super obnoxious when im trying to make conversation with a guest or ask them a question when they are talking to someone on the phone or texting. It’s mean, but it’s rude for them to completely ignore the person who is trying to serve you or whatever.