Etiquette Analysis: On Phones at the Table
This advice isn’t vintage but it’s definitely important!
“If you are by yourself in the kitchen and your meal is just about nourishment, text away. No problem! But if you’re having dinner with friends and family, be with them. As I told Sara, “The family meal is a social event, not a food ingestion event.” Even if your phone is in your lap, the people with you all know what you’re doing when your eyes are focused on your lap. Just because it’s a quiet activity (unlike a phone call), you’re not fooling anyone. And then everyone’s attention is on the fact that your attention is on your phone, not on them.” Everyday Etiquette, Emily Post institute, https://emilypost.com/advice/texting-at-the-dinner-table
Confession: I am addicted to my phone. Oh how I envy Emily Post who lived before the time of cell phones! It is probably the rudest thing I do - text at the table. I can make it through a meal without looking at my phone but it does require an obscene amount of effort on my part. My phone has to be securely in my bag for me to avoid subconsciously checking my home screen. It is no reflection on my feelings towards my dining partners but it’s easy to construe that it is. What it really is is a personal problem, one that is high time I got over.