Thursday, March 1, 2007
A Modest Proposal
Posted by Lindsay Ferrier on Thu, Mar 1, 2007 at 10:20 AM
The point is that Firefly Grille is one of a growing number of restaurants in Nashville with signs at the entrance that state cellphone use is not allowed in the dining room. And so when I realized I had forgotten to tape the America's Next Top Model premiere (for my stepdaughters, of course. I would never watch something so totally
Thank God, the owner came right over and snatched up both their phones. "No coconut cake for YOU!" he shouted furiously as the offenders stared at him in shock.
Well, that didn't really happen, but wouldn't it have been fabulous if it had? What Nashville needs is a Cellphone Nazi, preferably at one of the restaurants in town that we just can't live without (I would submit The Acorn personally, but I think The Cheesecake Factory might get the popular vote.)
What do you say, restaurateurs? Do any of you have the balls to step up to the plate and end this mobile madness once and for all?
Comments (57)
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I don't understand what the problem is with using your cell phone in a restaurant's dining area as long as you know how to speak in a conversational tone.
You talk to your dining partners when you're in a restaurant. Should they institute a library-like no-talking tpo your co-diners policy?
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No. In fact, you should call each other on your cellphones and converse, even if you're sitting right across the table.
Another thing that irritates the piss out of me is when people continue to talk on cell phones while they are ordering at a walk-up counter. It's just rude.
Yeah, and people in restaurants do that ALL THE TIME. I can't tell you how many times I waited on some jackass who would try to mime to me what he wanted because he couldn't be bothered to put his caller on hold. After a while I would ignore diners who didn't have the decency to open their mouths to speak to me.
When you're in a decent sit-down restaurant, talking on a cellphone tells your dining partner that he or she isn't worth your undivided attention for the relatively short time that it takes to order and eat your food. It tells the employees that their restaurant, for all the ambiance they've tried to create, is no different to you from a McDonalds.
"What Nashville needs is a Cellphone Nazi,"
And he could hand out free cell-phone signal jamming transmitters to every eatery in town.
THAT'S a better idea. A cell-phone jammer is currently in place in other establishments, so I can imagine a booming business for people who REALLY DO want the quiet, relaxed eating atmosphere that isn't punctuated by MP3's and other ringtones in the middle of a bite of Ladyfingers...
(Over a fine wine, delightful meal, and sumptuous dessert)
"Honey, we've known each other a long time, and...well, I wanted to know if you would consider --"
(Nearby patron of restaurant has Timberlake's SEXY BACK song as a ring tone so loud you could register it on the richter scale)
I have a friend that works at Starbucks that says he won't wait on people if they are talking on their cell when they get up to the counter- he tells them he will wait till they finish their call and he goes on to the next person.
When you're in a decent sit-down restaurant, talking on a cellphone tells your dining partner that he or she isn't worth your undivided attention for the relatively short time that it takes to order and eat your food.
What if you don't have a dining partner and you DO have to eat and you DO have business to conduct?
Let me ask you this, Mobile Talker- how did you handle this situation before you had a cell phone? You waited till you were finished eating, that's how. Or, you went out and used a pay phone and didn't annoy all the other people sitting around you. Same with crying babies- back in the day when people weren't rude, a crying baby was taken out of the restaurant as to not annoy all the other diners- now people just sit there and let them cry.
That's what takeout is for.
I can imagine very little more irritating than going out for a nice dinner with my husband or family and being seated next to a diner who "has business to conduct" on his/her cellphone and thought it would be a good idea to go to a nice restaurant alone to conduct it.
And don't get me started on crying babies.
I have no problem with cell phone users in a restaurant. They should have their own room in back to share with the smokers and the lard bin. That's democracy.
Neighbor...They do have a room for that purpose. And, it is clearly marked with either "Men" or "Women" on the door.
On a related note, I believe that people who haul out their Blackberries during a meeting or a conversation should be garroted on the spot.
I can imagine very little more irritating than going out for a nice dinner with my husband or family and being seated next to a diner who "has business to conduct" on his/her cellphone and thought it would be a good idea to go to a nice restaurant alone to conduct it.
So do you ask people seated next to you at a table to stop their conversations? What's the difference in a person in a dining room holding a conversation on a telephone versus holding one with a person at the table with them? Why does it matter to you where the person that individual is talking to is in the world?
I suppose the next thing you people will want to do is ban cell phone use anywhere but in your own home, much like you've done with smokers. Then you'll ban that, too, claiming that cell phones cause brain cancer.
We no longer live in 1975. Get over it.
OK, here's a modest proposal for you: When your host/hostess greets patrons at the door, he/she asks:
"smoking, non-smoking, or cellphone". The restaurant would reserve a few tables for those who wish to keep their cellphones on/use them at table. If I owned the restaurant, of course, there would be only two such tables, in the worst part of the smoking section. Those who would have to wait for those tables might perhaps do their business while waiting to be seated, then join the other list, turn the phone off, and enjoy their meal. Voila!
You can try anything you want. The fact is that we live in a fast-paced new age of global information, and all banning in the world isn't going to stop it, just evolve it.
Ban phones from the restaurant? Lose customers. That will be the ultimate end.
Mobile Talker, admit it. You have a Bluetooth headset, don't you? And I'll bet you wear it all day long.
I'm not anti-technology and I am not for banning anything- I am for for people having some damn manners. Guess that's a lost cause...
I am for for people having some damn manners. Guess that's a lost cause...
So do you think it is ill-mannered to have a conversation with the person seated with you at a table in a restaurant? It is the same difference as sitting at the table by yourself and talking on the phone.
It is my experience, and I realize I am generalizing, that typically people who talk on cell phones have to speak at a louder volume to be heard than normal conversational tones. I have been disturbed by people having loud conversations in restaurants as well. Obviously you think it's fine and a whole lot of other people do as well- I just think it's rude, especially when the server is trying to intereact with you.
Obviously you think it's fine and a whole lot of other people do as well- I just think it's rude, especially when the server is trying to intereact with you.
I think it's rude for the person who pulls up after me at an intersection to pull up far enough so as to block my view of the oncoming traffic, but they do it anyway and no one is banning it.
Other people live on this planet. You're just going to have to put up with them.
Mobile Talker- I'm going to venture a guess- you're less than 30 years old, aren't you?
Mobile Talker- I'm going to venture a guess- you're less than 30 years old, aren't you?
No. 37. Want to ban people under the age of 30 from restaurants now too?
Mobile- you just sound as if you're a member of the "it's all about me" generation. Most(or at least many)people over the age of 30 or so have come to the realization that it's not all about them and they try to demonstrate a little courtesy under most circumstances. I guess you're a late bloomer. And no one is trying to ban you or any other person from restaurants -they just want you to turn your damn phone off while you're there.
obile- you just sound as if you're a member of the "it's all about me" generation.
What a presumtive, generalizing, ill-informed observation, especially considering my comment about manners. Sheesh.
Yep - when I worked retail in college, I didn't wait on people who were on their cell phones, and didn't approach them until they were finished. In fact, I was known to "not see them" when they motioned me over to them, still yapping away.
HANG UP. HANG UP!
In certain situations it may be unavoidable. If someone calls me and I am at dinner, I pick up ask if it is an emergency and if not tell them I will call them later. Having small children I run the risk of one of them breaking or brusing something that needs my attention. I also have clients that call me on my cell, which unless I would like to get fired, I answer the call. I make it brief and then I hang up. Having a full blown conversation while I am dinning, no I would not do that.
A waitress ignored me. I was trying to pay my check so I could get out the door and talk a friend out of killing herself. A friend I happened to be trying to talk out of it while on my cell and motioning to the waitress to bring me my check.
Needless to say, I was in a hurry and I was not about to hang up on my despondent friend.
If she had gone through with it, I would have demanded the waitress be fired.
I guess I don't see the big deal about taking the call outside the dining room. When my stepdaughter called me back that night, I answered by saying "Hold on," walked outside and then talked to her. We had the phone on vibrate on the table so we could see it if it rang and was the kids. And just like that, everybody's happy.
Of course, there are extraordinary circumstances and emergencies with cell phones- but they are few and far between. And if a server is blatantly ignoring me and I want to leave, by the way, I've found that standing up and putting on my coat has an amazing way of bringing him/her over with the check...
taking the call outside the dining room depends on what restaurant you happen to be patronizing. in some, there is no "outside" the dining room.
the biggest deal is, waiters and waitresses work in the customer service industry. that is their job. to serve the customer, even if the customer is rude. the customer is always right.
if you can't handle serving the customer even under poor circumstances, you shouldn't be doing that job.
i hope "pissed" didn't leave a tip.
I work at Starbucks and nothing is more irritating than people who won't get off their cell phones to place their order. They don't realize tht while they are preoccupied and talking away there is a line of people to the door. RUDE RUDE RUDE!
Last night we were out at a fairly nice restaurant, and this guy at the next table was standing up, talking on his cell phone, and holding his hand over his other ear (he was dining with his family, including a baby who was much better-mannered than him). I half expected him to tell all of us other diners to keep it down, since he was on the phone.
Also, at my doctor's office now they have signs all over telling people that they will not be seen by a doctor or nurse while they are on their cell phone. Isn't that pathetic that people need to be told that? Ug.
And, regarding people who are rude to customer service people, because "that's their job and they have to just deal with"...I'm not buying it. A restaurant has every right to refuse service to someone who is rude, and I hope they do. I certainly wouldn't put up with it.
Hate to be an advocate here my fellow Americans, but this problem is our fault. Our constant expectation of everything we want when we want it is the root of people feeling they need to be in constant communication. Just like gasoline, the environment, politics. It would take society slowing down for this problem to go away and guess what, it will never slow down until it stops. Hate to say it, but I believe it to be true. And just wait, the blackberry will become something more complex and annoying next year, progress being what it is and all. Try and go to a movie these days, I bet you can't make it through one without someone making a call, taking a call, phone ringing, light on their phones face coming on to make to take a text message, and the best of all, people who talk during time that is clearly not for talking. And if these things happen to you, grow some guts and tell them to shut up and be quiet. Police these people if you can, because they can't take care of themselves. Or do like I do, follow them from the movie theater to their favorite restaurant after the film and sit there next to them and scream at the top of your lungs. When they tell you that it is ruining their meal, just remind them that they ruined your film experience and that you will see them at work on Monday to scream in their ear there as well. Fair is fair.
To me, it all comes down to manners. I don't want to deal with ringing cell phones and loud cell phone conversations while I'm enjoying a meal and conversation. If your phone is set on "vibrate"... AND you are dining alone, AND you are able to have your conversation quietly, at the same level that you'd speak to a dining companion...fine. If you want to allow your food to grow cold (because you certainly would not eat or drink while on the phone!!!) while you have a quiet conversation, fine. But if you are with others, it's rude to talk on the phone while at the table with them. It's rude to force me to listen to you shouting to be heard over cell phone static. It's rude to force me to listen to your ridiculous "personalized" cell phone ring.
When I was a kid and there was an emergency, the sitter could call the restaurant. If someone called during dinner, my mother would answer the phone and politely say "we're at dinner right now. May I have son/daughter/husband call you back please?"
If you're on call to a client, you excuse yourself and go somewhere else to speak to the client where he or she is not having to listen to the ambient restaurant noise, and your companions at dinner don't have to stop their conversation while you are on the phone (or shout over you).
It's a matter of courtesy, and being aware of others...not just the "others" around you, but also the "others" on the other end of the phone. If you call me, I will either put down my fork/turn off my TV/ pull over my shopping cart or my car/excuse myself from my dining companions/whatever and devote my attention to you...or I will ask you if I can call you back when it's a better time. (Suicidal friends would be an exception to the "may I call you back" rule...but I would hope such things are rare and truly exceptional).
I see parents yammering on their cell phones while walking beside their children; talking on cell phones with their children setting beside them in the car; talking on cell phones in stores instead of talking to their children; in restaurants parents talk on their cell phones while their children pick at their food and all this makes me sad. Those parents are missing a great time with their children.
To me, it all comes down to manners. I don't want to deal with ringing cell phones and loud cell phone conversations while I'm enjoying a meal and conversation. If your phone is set on "vibrate"... AND you are dining alone, AND you are able to have your conversation quietly, at the same level that you'd speak to a dining companion...fine.
Hey, guess what? I went out to eat tonight. A man at the table beside me was talking really, really loud. I mean so loud that tables on the other side of the restaurant were looking at him. I mean he was LOUD. It was so rude?
Did I mention he was talking to his dining companions and not on his cell phone?
I guess rudeness isn't the cell phone's fault.
There are lots of things you can do in a restaurant to be rude. I could do a post on each one (although I don't think anyone wants that). This one happens to be about cell phones.
There are lots of things you can do in a restaurant to be rude.
Exactly. But you don't see restaurants banning them.
Uh, ever heard of "No shirt, no shoes, no service?"
Ever heard of "no loud talking with your dining companions?" I didn't think so.
I HATE when people use their cellphones inside of restaurants. It's so rude. I also HATE when people use them as they check out at the grocery/target or drive thru the pharmacy/wendy's or whatever. It's so rude. AND I hate when I'm with someone, their phone rings at the table, and they have to answer it and chat. I've quit spending time with one of my friends for that reason. It's so rude!! NEWS FLASH: The world does not revolve aroud you and that stupid phone!
To the person who said
"The customer is always right"
You have never worked customer service before have you?
If you had, you would know that it should be
"The customer is sometimes right, more often an entitlement whore"
Ever heard of "no loud talking with your dining companions?" I didn't think so.
Comment by exactly (03.05.2007, 11:14 AM)
What? I've been in restaurants before when the staff asked the guests at a table to hold it down because others had complained about the noise.
