Over the years, the topic of allowing music to be played in the shop has come up again and again.

At first it was just a stereo and whatever music was playing, and everyone had to listen to it. The resulting tug of war, which inevitably resulted in employees leaving their work to change the music to something they liked, cost precious hours. This morphed into a different problem when personal music players with headphones appeared. Everyone was in their own little bubble, unable to hear anything but their music.

Now we have smart phones that have created a whole new set of problems. Not only are employees spending loads of time cuing up their music, they are also spending even more time texting, making and answering calls, etc.

I have, once again, had to don the mantle of "old curmudgeon" and forbid the use of hand-held devices on the shop floor. Use is limited to lunch and breaks only.

The things we have to deal with …

D.D.