Frustrated Bagel Shop Owners Call on Cell Phone Users to Hang Up

Bagel shop owners Carrie Richardson and Tina Patterson may seem unlikely crusaders for cell-phone etiquette. But after having to dump yet another ice-blended mocha down the drain because of a botched order, they simply had to do something.

Day after day, they said, customers would stream into their small Westlake Boulevard coffeehouse, shouting bagel and espresso orders while chatting on cell phones. Inevitably, coffee lovers would forget to mention that they wanted a decaf mocha, or one with no whipped cream.

“We would end up making things twice or three times,” Patterson said. “They’re on the phone when they order, but when they’re picking up the item they suddenly become very astute.”

So the mild-mannered owners of East Coast Bagel decided to take a lonely stand in a world where cappuccinos and cell phones go together like coffee and cream.

Now when customers approach the cash registers, they are greeted with this friendly sign: “Thank you for NOT using your cell phone while placing your order.”

The message has caught the attention not only of customers but other local small-business owners, who said they have dealt with the annoyance but haven’t gone so far as to put up a sign.

“People talking on cell phones in a retail environment is somewhat distracting for employees and other customers,” said Michael Johnson, assistant manager at Western Bagel on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. He said he’s familiar with the problem East Coast Bagel is experiencing but doesn’t envision the Van Nuys-based chain taking a similar step.

Mark O’Connor, owner of Signs Now! in Thousand Oaks, said lines often form at his service counter when people take cell phone calls in the middle of being helped.

“I think [the sign] is a great idea,” he said. “People do it because they’re not aware it’s that rude.”

Randy Cassen, manager of Bent on Coffee on Moorpark Road, said his shop takes a slightly different approach.

“People come in on their phones but they’re regulars, so when they come to the counter they can get their order without talking to us at all,” he said.

Tom Byrne, owner of the Westlake Village graphics company that made the bagel shop’s sign, said it was the first time anyone had requested such a message.

“It was interesting to see that they had to put something like that out there,” he said.

With close to 105 million mobile-phone users nationwide and new subscribers signing up every 1 1/2 seconds, the incidents of cellular backlash are skyrocketing. Several restaurants in New York and San Francisco banned cell-phone use after customers became tired of hearing the constant rattle of one-way conversations.

Across the country, the devices have been outlawed or their use discouraged in churches, synagogues, gyms, city halls, doctors’ offices--even golf courses.

Santa Monica officials toyed with the idea of fining motorists caught clutching cell phones, but the City Council voted down the proposal earlier this year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has advised drivers not to use their phones while on the road but has yet to seek a federal ban. Although bans have been proposed in several states, none has been implemented.

And although Ventura County prides itself on its friendly, rural image, on-the-go dot-com executives and frantic soccer moms who can’t go anywhere without their cell phones have become an integral part of the suburban landscape, particularly in the east county.

At Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, more and more professors are including phrases such as “This is a cell-phone-free zone” on their class syllabuses, said Charles Hall, associate professor of sociology.

“What is happening is we have a generation growing up with the ability to do many different tasks all at once, but as I see it you can’t do anything at great depth,” Hall said. “If you’re talking on your phone and can’t order your bagel, you’ve got too much being filtered through the brain and can’t decipher it all.”

A spokesman for the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assn., Travis Larson, said, “I think because cell phones are new, a sense of what is polite and what isn’t polite hasn’t yet developed as a general consensus. Miss Manners hasn’t quite caught up with the growth.”

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He said the association recommends people be considerate of those around them when deciding to use their cell phones, but said the behavior that prompted the East Coast Bagel sign was “definitely a new one.”

It’s too early to tell if the shop’s signs, put up a few weeks ago, have affected business. But Patterson and Richardson said the signs certainly have fueled many conversations and debates.

Some customers have taken offense to the signs, calling them “rude,” while others have said they wished the placards had been displayed long ago, they said.

“A lot of people have said they think it’s sad our society has come to this,” Richardson said, “where you have to put up a sign for something that seems so obvious.”