The plans for the night were to go to a nice Italian place for dinner where we could have a few martini’s, scoff up some pizza and veal, and catch up on what’s new.
<ding> <ding>
We talked about……
<ding> <ding>
Discussed what happened…..
<ding> <ding>
Appetizers arrived and I commented on…..
<ding> <ding>
Finally I bellowed, “am I having dinner with you or are you having dinner with the person who you are texting back and forth?”
Text messaging, for me, has become as annoying as Sarah Palin’s voice. I sit in meetings and watch people’s thumbs fly across their Blackberries and iPhones. I watch in horror as drivers doing 80+ mph down the interstate balance their phones on top of their steering wheels tapping out messages. And I get completely irate when I’m with someone at dinner and our conversation gets stopped so a text can be answered.
I have two rules I ask anyone who dines with me to follow:
- Take off your hat.
- Leave the cell phone in your pocket and put it on vibrate.
I’m not asking for too much am I? After all, if Emily Post had a cell phone, I’m sure she wouldn’t be texting while gnawing on a lamb chop.