We hear all the time that today’s teens are incapable of doing anything without those darn gadgets. My generation receives the titles “technology dependent” or “socially dysfunctional” particularly referring to our so-called cell phone attachment. One of the most common complaints regarding cell phone use concerns use at the table. Many may be quick to point fingers at my generation, but phones don’t discriminate based on age–they weasel their way onto every table.
I walk through the restaurant door to be greeted with a smile and a “just take a seat wherever you’d like,” allowing me to choose the perfect seat. The spot I choose sits on an end so there are no tables behind me and on an elevated level to give me a more overhead view of the restaurant. I settle down and immediately scan the restaurant. In the first few minutes of my observation, there aren’t any phones out. However, I continue scanning the room, and my eyes settle on the farthest table. Around it sit twelve men around twenty years old wearing UNO tennis gear. Though their lovely faces could take some credit for the halt of my wandering eyes, I take notice of the man second from the left who has earbuds in. Then, I notice one man with earbuds around his neck, and one rests headphones on top his hat. I notice that many customers are using their phones now. In fact, on every table rests at least one phone.
A table to my left seats a family consisting of what appears to be a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a five-year-old boy, and a three-year-old girl. The grandfather picks his phone up first, scrolling through and reading the screen. He occasionally leans over to his wife to show her the screen and strike up conversation. Meanwhile, the five-year-old boy holds an iPhone playing a television show episode. The grandfather returns to his phone frequently as the rest of the table chats, and he eventually leaves the table completely to take a phone call.
I hear the bells chime and look to see who my new tablemates will be. A group of two women, a blonde and a brunette, and each of their daughters, also blonde and brunette, take a seat two tables to my right. The approximately ten-year-old girls each have their phones in hand as they sit, but the phones are put down shortly after. The blonde mother’s phone rests screen-up on the table and lights up with text messages and even a phone call. After ordering her drink, the blonde daughter apparently feels uncomfortable because she picks up her phone for aimless swiping on her home screen. The waitress walks away, and to my disbelief, the brunette mother is on FaceTime with the daughters crowding the phone as they greet their virtual tablemate. But the short-lived call does not end the brunette mother’s phone usage, and she shows the whole table about seven videos of someone skiing. An appetizer arrives, and the phones depart. But as soon as the eating stops, the phones start up again. The blonde mother kicks off the relapse with a phone call at the table, and the girls play Trivia Crack then Words with Friends against each other while exchanging no actual words with friends.
A booth in the left corner holds a fifty to fifty-five-year-old couple. Both of them sit on the same side of the booth making them physically close even though they are mentally estranged. The man picks up his phone, and the woman looks around not knowing what to do with herself. She eventually looks over his shoulder to feel less uncomfortable, but she loses interest soon after. A common theme I pick up on is that once the food shows up, the phones go away, but even when the food comes, the man keeps his phone in front of his face. Shortly into the meal, the man makes a phone call which lasts at least ten minutes. The woman’s bored expression goes unchanged as she practically eats alone. The phone call ends, and the phone goes down; however, maybe two minutes later, it’s back in front of his face. To my surprise, the woman never retreats to her own phone, but she just sits there quietly eating with that same bored expression. The man puts his phone down for a total of about ten minutes throughout the dinner. I don’t witness them speaking to each other once.
Though many pin my generation as the root of the “phones at dinner issue,” people of every age are offenders. Everyone expects “phones at the table” offenses from the college tennis team, but the grandfather constantly on his phone at the family dinner is just as much of an offender. Many scoff at the five-year-old watching television on an iPhone, but across the restaurant, the piercing sound of the FaceTime ring comes from a late-thirties mother’s phone. Phones serve as a normal part of today’s dinner tables. The phones may threaten the time to connect at the dinner table, but don’t blame us.