My wife and I were dining in a fine restaurant in Atlanta Saturday night. The atmosphere was great, the food was delicious, the service was impeccable. The place – called Pappadeaux – was packed with happy groups of people; this is a fun place, no question about it. But my wife called my attention to something I thought was bizarre and, at least in my book, the very definition of bad manners.
At the table nearest us sat eight people. Seven of them were looking at their phones. Their faces were bathed in the blue glow. There was not a word being uttered by any of them. This went on for maybe ten minutes as they waited for their food. The one gentleman without a phone in his hands just sat quietly, hands folded in front of him, ignored by the rest of his party. I imagined he was sorry he left his phone at home and was silently vowing to not make that mistake again.
While this was happening I noticed the group next to them at another large round table. The same scenario was being played out there, except that everyone seated there, all nine of them, were transfixed by their phones. At Table #2, at least there was some interaction: they were passing theirs back and forth, sharing what was on their screens with each other, talking and laughing. At Table # 1, the phones were isolating devices.
Speaking of Table #1, the lone holdout – the guy I thought didn’t have a phone – finally pulled out a phone and gazed into its screen, joining the rest of his party. Seventeen people, seventeen faces buried in their cell phones instead of enjoying each other’s company, their surroundings, and good conversation.
What we saw is sad, but it certainly isn’t an isolated incident. Everywhere you go you can see people who should be soaking up (or at least aware of) their surroundings, but instead they’re texting, tweeting, checking emails, watching YouTube, updating their Facebook status, checking scores…
Hand-held devices seem to be getting completely out of hand.
