BlackBerry Rudeness Reaches New Levels

// October 9th, 2009 // BlackBerry

I was struck by this article by Jill Haney on cincinnati.com as it tells the anecdote of two young salesmen having a meeting with a prospective customer. Since they had a well-rehearsed two-handed pitch, while one of them was speaking the other one was checking his BlackBerry for messages. When they switched, the other rep checked his iPhone. Haney also tells of a job candidate that went through an interview with his bluetooth earpiece still in place.

I have long been accustomed to the phenomenon of BlackBerry use by executives in meetings either with their peers or with people that are in some way lower in status (junior managers, suppliers etc.). What makes this anecdote interesting is that it suggests that the behaviour is now so entrenched among some young business people (the sales reps are described as “twenty-something”) that they perceive no rudeness or lack of civility. Presumably, they thought it quite natural to check for messages even in front of someone they were trying to sell to.

Haney explains this as “addiction” – personally, I don’t see addiction as a helpful way of approaching this behaviour but that’s for another post…

One Response to “BlackBerry Rudeness Reaches New Levels”

  1. Ian Wigston says:
    9 November 2009 at 5:34 am

    I heard a story recently about a candidate for a senior post in a state school who was facing a student panel and was checking his blackberry at the start of the interview. One of the students opened by calling the candidate by his surname and asked what he was up to.
    He got the job, but is going to face a problem when he starts lecturing on values and respect!