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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Cellphones Don’t Mix with Dining
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PUT DOWN THAT CELLPHONE HONEY AND EAT
Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP
One of my blog posts from last week prompted a response I had completely forgotten about. In the “Okay Restaurant Folks, Now It’s Your Turn” blog, a few industry folks spoke out against the use of cell phones at the table.
I couldn’t agree more. To answer the phone at the table and excuse yourself to a quiet spot outside is fine — I have to do it all the time since my daughter usually calls me during “dine outs” to have me sing her to sleep. I can remember owner Riccardo Ullio at Beleza looking at me as if I had lost my mind when he caught me singing “La Vie En Rose” to her in the small nook beside the bathroom of this Brazilian beauty on Juniper Street.
But to answer the phone at the table and then continue a conversation — whether it’s work-related or not — is rude to everyone: your dinner mates, the servers, even the chef. Guys do this a lot more than girls, I’ve noticed, but women are guilty, too.
Why did you come to dinner if you wanted to talk on the phone? Okay, maybe something important came up — is it more important than your manners? Simply excuse yourself and go outside. If it’s an emergency, then dinner’s over anyway. Having a conversation with someone else says something very strongly to the people you are with — that you’d rather be with them than who you are with. And the server can’t do his job if he has to work around your cell phone antics.
Leave the phone on vibrate. Dinner will be more enjoyable for everyone.
Who talks on the cellphone at the table more: Women or men?
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