No Cell Phone=No Shopping

This afternoon I decided to take a short walk around the area by my office during my lunch hour and as I often do, I called my dad to chat. I usually walk and talk, occasionally stopping in a store if something catches my attention. I’m not a super spender, but there are times when I do purchase items during those little “walk and talks.”

Today I started my walk on Connecticut heading up toward Dupont Circle. I stopped in the Gap to check out the new spring merchandise and wandered around there for a bit before moving on.

Still on my phone, I decided to stop in a little shop just South of Dupont Circle. It’s a cute little store that sells books, novelties, accessories and clothing. The store was fairly empty. There was maybe one other customer and two sales women. I started looking at the books when I felt a tap on the shoulder. It was one of the saleswomen informing me that the store has a no cell phone policy.

I promptly left and finished my conversation all the while feeling kind of irked. I decided to return to the store to inquire about the policy. I entered the still empty store and approached the sales counter.

“I didn’t realize that there was a no cell phone policy in the store,” I said to the saleswoman. “If I had known I wouldn’t have come in and I wish that there would have been something clearly marked on the door that I would have seen before I came in.”

The saleswoman started explaining that there wasn’t a lot of space and there was notice posted near the door and that she appreciated that I had respected the policy.

I said that I understood but that I would probably not visit the store again and left.

I admittedly have a whole third-grader-have-to-please-can’t-do-anything-wrong issue. I truly felt like I was being chastised. I wasn’t screaming on the phone, laughing hysterically or being a disturbance. There wasn’t anyone around me at all.

I think that I would have felt differently about the situation if the saleswoman would have taken a different approach. She could have waited until I was off the phone and just said something like “I just wanted to let you know for the next time that you visit that we have a no cell phone policy” instead of pouncing on me as soon as I entered the store, especially since the store wasn’t crowded.

I completely agree with having a no cell phone policy at the movie theater or in a spa. I would even go along with having one at an extremely high-end store like Vera Wang or Hermes. If you are about to blow $1000 on one item of clothing you should have all the quiet you need. Having a no cell phone policy at a little gift boutique seems pretentious to me. What if you are in the middle of trying on clothes or waiting to pay when your babysitter calls about your kids? Do you pick up the phone and stay in the store defiantly? Do you drop every potential purchase and accept the call once you are outside the door of the store?

Maybe I have strayed too far from etiquette, taking for granted my right to talk on the phone or even overacting. What do you think? Would you shop at a similar store if you knew they had a no cell phone policy? Especially one so diligent about enforcing the policy? Maybe it all depends on whether you were already on the phone or not.