Glancing at your Watch, people feel like you're rushing them

[iBlazed]

The international sign of disinterest or being in a rush is looking at your watch. I was helping my dad out at his business, and while I had my back turned to the customer to grab something off the shelf I naturally glanced at my watch when I felt a tap and the customer said "are you about to go on lunch?". At first I was confused why she would ask that and said no, but after a few seconds I realized that society still needs time to adjust to smartwatches and the fact that looking at your watch no longer just means checking the time. Never having owned a watch before the Apple Watch, this sometimes escapes me when I look down at it. I'll need to be more vigilant about checking my Watch in front of people I don't know so it doesn't get perceived as rude. Society will need some time to adjust body language perceptions to this new technology.

 

[xraydoc]

No different than looking through your phone while someone is talking to you.

 

[whatos]

A guy in line ahead of me at Starbucks, kept raising his arm with such frequency that it was apparent he wanted attention because of his Apple Watch. The funny part was no one paid attention to him. In the community where this Starbucks is located it's takes far more than just your average Apple watch to impress people.

 

[iBlazed]

No different than looking through your phone while someone is talking to you.

Except for the person wasn't talking to me. I had my back turned to them and was getting something for them. Regardless, they still interpreted it as "hurry up and leave". If I had checked my phone, I wouldn't have gotten that reaction because it would have been assumed I'm checking something other than the time.

 

[zacheryjensen]

The international sign of disinterest or being in a rush is looking at your watch. I was helping my dad out at his business, and while I had my back turned to the customer to grab something off the shelf I naturally glanced at my watch when I felt a tap and the customer said "are you about to go on lunch?". At first I was confused why she would ask that and said no, but after a few seconds I realized that society still needs time to adjust to smartwatches and the fact that looking at your watch no longer just means checking the time. Never having owned a watch before the Apple Watch, this sometimes escapes me when I look down at it. I'll need to be more vigilant about checking my Watch in front of people I don't know so it doesn't get perceived as rude. Society will need some time to adjust body language perceptions to this new technology.

It's not society that needs adjusting, it's you. 100+ years of etiquette developed around watch use in social settings. You broke the expectations, not the customer. There is no need for people to accept your rudeness or ineptitude with regards to watch related behavior patterns.

Just don't look at your watch when interacting with people, not even when you've merely turned around. It's quite simple.

Source: Someone who has worn a watch their entire life.

 

[iBlazed]

It's not society that needs adjusting, it's you. 100+ years of etiquette developed around watch use in social settings. You broke the expectations, not the customer. There is no need for people to accept your rudeness or ineptitude with regards to watch related behavior patterns.

Just don't look at your watch when interacting with people, not even when you've merely turned around. It's quite simple.

Source: Someone who has worn a watch their entire life.

How's the weather up there on your high horse?

I knew this thread would invite ridiculous comments from your type...

Make no mistake though, society will adjust to the upcoming prevalence of smartwatches, and your comment will seem even sillier than it already does now.

 

[Night Spring]

It's not society that needs adjusting, it's you. 100+ years of etiquette developed around watch use in social settings. You broke the expectations, not the customer. There is no need for people to accept your rudeness or ineptitude with regards to watch related behavior patterns.

Just don't look at your watch when interacting with people, not even when you've merely turned around. It's quite simple.

Source: Someone who has worn a watch their entire life.

Except that traditional watches never tapped you to look at them. The Apple watch taps, and it's reflex -- you look at it unless you are involved in something else that precludes looking at your wrist. I think OP would have been able to ignore the watch if he had been actually talking with the customer. But he was turned away, and the watch tapped. In such a situation, I would have looked down at the watch before I was even consciously aware I was doing so. And I think before too long this would be a well recognized behavior. Whether it would be considered socially acceptable is another question.

 

[friedmud]

Probably depends a lot on who is around you.

In my current social circle no one is used to people wearing watches... but they sure are used to them looking at their phones when they are bored / when they have somewhere else to be.

I've actually found that they don't think much about me looking at my watch.

Was the customer older? I'm sure that to most older generations (maybe over 40?) they still have enough memory of everyone having watches that they will still react negatively to you looking at yours.

Like you say, we're just going to need to use a bit of diligence to try not to offend people we don't know.

 

[Xenden]

I was out to dinner with my parents the other night, my wrist buzzed and i checked it. Buzzed a min or two later, I checked it. Third time that happened, my mom asked if I was crunched for time, I told her my wrist was buzzing. If wearables take off, checking your watch may be taken as something other than you are rushed for time or what-have-you.

 

[mcdj]

One summer, when I was a stupid little kid, I shot a couple of rubber bands at my dog for a laugh. Mean, I know. From then on, all I had to to was mimic the act of shooting a rubber band, without even having one in my hand, and my dog would take off running.

Side note; this proved quite useful when the dog was annoying someone.

People are dumber than dogs. They will need training to understand smart watch interactions, just like they needed time to understand that people with Bluetooth headsets weren't homeless psychos talking to themselves. Well at least not homeless anyway.

 

[Xarthan]

haha I know what you mean. I'm holding meetings and glance at my watch when I get notifications when other people are talking and I have a feeling it's making them agitated.

 

[InAustralia]

You need to train yourself not to look at your watch (or your phone) just because it taps you or makes a sound if you are with other people.

I don't immediately respond to my watch or iPhone when it taps me or makes a sound. I look at it when it is convenient to me and when it would not be perceived as rude to do so.

In your case if my phone made a sound and indicated I had a notification I would not have looked at it (even when I had my back turned to the customer), I would have finished the task at hand and looked at it afterwards.

What you are describing is not really a smartwatch issue, it's a common courtesy and etiquette issue.

Having said that, I do think that the increase of smartwatches will increase anti-social and rude behaviour (just as smart phones did). I am amazed when I go to restaurants and see people's heads buried in their smartphone and not actually paying attention to the person sitting across from them at the table.

 

[ShadovvMoon]

Hah I've had a few times where I've received several emails at once while I'm talking to someone and my watch keeps pinging. I ignore the ping but they look around wildly

 

[zhenya]

Folks who say that people need to be aware of etiquette and common courtesy are right. However, so is the original poster. There was a time not that long ago when looking at your phone indicated the same thing. However, phone usage has become such a part of our everyday interactions that while still being impolite in certain situations, it is now far more accepted today than looking at your watch (for example, in a business meeting, it is no longer completely off limits to glance at your phone - but glancing at your watch definitely gives off a different vibe).

Society will definitely need to adjust to this. How fast that happens will depend on how fast (if ever) smart watches are adopted. For now, you will have to be aware of the social cues glancing at it will give off.

 

[Newtons Apple]

You need to train yourself not to look at your watch (or your phone) just because it taps you or makes a sound if you are with other people.

^^^This^^^

Just because one's watch dings you do not need to interrupt a conversation. It can wait and a direct conversation with another human is more important. It is the wearer of the device that needs retraining.

 

[GoofyCyborg]

^^^This^^^

Just because one's watch dings you do not need to interrupt a conversation. It can wait and a direct conversation with another human is more important. It is the wearer of the device that needs retraining.

^^^This^^^

 

[GrimmsGirl]

Except for the person wasn't talking to me. I had my back turned to them and was getting something for them. Regardless, they still interpreted it as "hurry up and leave". If I had checked my phone, I wouldn't have gotten that reaction because it would have been assumed I'm checking something other than the time.

What would your reaction be if you went into a store and the person helping you just stopped in the middle of what they were doing and stated looking at their phone instead? How important would you have felt as a customer in that situation?

Looking at your phone or looking at your watch would have been equally inappropriate. It might have conveyed a different meaning, but still off-putting and inappropriate.

 

[iBlazed]

What would your reaction be if you went into a store and the person helping you just stopped in the middle of what they were doing and stated looking at their phone instead? How important would you have felt as a customer in that situation?

Wouldn't care as long as they didn't do it while talking to me.

 

[bushido]

reminds me of my mum who kept asking me during launch if i got class or anywhere to be cuz i kept looking at my watch while she was on her phone herself answering WhatsApp messages

 

[GrimmsGirl]

You need to train yourself not to look at your watch (or your phone) just because it taps you or makes a sound if you are with other people.

I don't immediately respond to my watch or iPhone when it taps me or makes a sound. I look at it when it is convenient to me and when it would not be perceived as rude to do so.

In your case if my phone made a sound and indicated I had a notification I would not have looked at it (even when I had my back turned to the customer), I would have finished the task at hand and looked at it afterwards.

What you are describing is not really a smartwatch issue, it's a common courtesy and etiquette issue.

Having said that, I do think that the increase of smartwatches will increase anti-social and rude behaviour (just as smart phones did). I am amazed when I go to restaurants and see people's heads buried in their smartphone and not actually paying attention to the person sitting across from them at the table.

Well said.

I am no longer amazed by this behavior, but I am still a little dismayed. We've even had friends do this at the diner table in our house, to the point they will stop the conversation and respond to texts and even take and make phone calls. Needless to say, we're not that close anymore.

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Wouldn't care as long as they didn't do it while talking to me.

How unfortunate. Although I do think your answer was a bit too flippant. It has nothing to do with you and whether you were talking at that moment and everything to do with the customer's time is more important than yours is. Every second you spend not helping them is a second you've delayed them from getting out of the store.

 

[0007776]

Except for the person wasn't talking to me. I had my back turned to them and was getting something for them. Regardless, they still interpreted it as "hurry up and leave". If I had checked my phone, I wouldn't have gotten that reaction because it would have been assumed I'm checking something other than the time.

If I was shopping in a store and the salesperson who was helping me stopped to check their phone for something, unless I knew it was directly related to what they were helping me with they would not be getting that sale from me.

 

[GrimmsGirl]

If I was shopping in a store and the salesperson who was helping me stopped to check their phone for something, unless I knew it was directly related to what they were helping me with they would not be getting that sale from me.

Watch it, you're showing your age. I suspect you're over 30.

 

[0007776]

Watch it, you're showing your age. I suspect you're over 30.

Nope, still in my early 20s.

 

[iBlazed]

If I was shopping in a store and the salesperson who was helping me stopped to check their phone for something, unless I knew it was directly related to what they were helping me with they would not be getting that sale from me.

You adjust your behavior for the situation. This customer clearly wasn't in a rush and had already been in the store for 15 minutes and was coming back asking question after question. She wouldn't have cared if I looked at my phone. The whole point of this thread is that while checking a phone has become socially acceptable, most people still assume you're checking the time when glancing at a watch and it implies something completely different. At least today it does, probably not for long.

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How unfortunate. Although I do think your answer was a bit too flippant. It has nothing to do with you and whether you were talking at that moment and everything to do with the customer's time is more important than yours is. Every second you spend not helping them is a second you've delayed them from getting out of the store.

As I said, your behavior adjusts for the situation. Time wasn't as issue for this particular customer.

 

[GrimmsGirl]

Nope, still in my early 20s.

Wow, I happily stand corrected.

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You adjust your behavior for the situation. This customer clearly wasn't in a rush and had already been in the store for 15 minutes and was coming back asking question after question. She wouldn't have cared if I looked at my phone. The whole point of this thread is that while checking a phone has become socially acceptable, most people still assume you're checking the time when glancing at a watch and it implies something completely different. At least today it does, probably not for long.

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As I said, your behavior adjusts for the situation. Time wasn't as issue for this particular customer.

I think you've actually missed an underlying point of the thread. I know you started it, so you feel like you know what you wanted it to be about. I agree with you, society has not adapted to people checking their watches when they should be doing something else. Thankfully, and hopefully it never will.

What you illustrated clearly in your OP is that there are members of society who think it's acceptable to use their phones whenever they feel like it. I'd like to point out to you that while you might feel this way, there are still people who don't. They think it's rude and impolite, and in the case of a store clerk using one on the job when helping a customer, completely inappropriate.

Just because your customer was in the store for 15 minutes and kept coming back and asking questions does't mean she would have been okay with you checking your phone or that she wasn't in a hurry. It likely just meant she wanted to make sure she got everything she needed while she was there. Even if she wasn't in a hurry, you are not being paid (if your father was paying you, but play along here) to use your phone, you're being paid to help customers.