Who's calling?

Nowadays the phone is everywhere....always. We do not have ONE moment during the day without the mobile phone. What a shame is that??

We use the phone when we are waiting for something or someone, when we go to the toilet, when we are on a break, when we are at work, when we are at a museum, when we are at the cinema and so on. But the worst of all things according to me: we use it DURING DINNER.

Of course I will acknowledge that the phone is a very handy device. It is very useful to be able to check the time the trains leave, to check the news at all times, to search something on the internet when needed, to be able to call in case of an emergency and of course to keep in touch with friends and family.

But there is one moment during the day that, in my opinion, the phones should be put away, and that is during dinner.

Nowadays people see dinner as 'something that needs to be done'. Something that is on the schedule each day and something that is, 'unfortunately', time-consuming. People do not have time to eat, so that is why we eat faster and faster each day. We do not take the time to eat. We make a simple meal, and that is WHEN we make the meal ourselves. It is much easier nowadays to heat something up, to order in or to order food from companies as Hello Fresh so we do not have to do groceries and we do not have to think while cooking.

While I think this 'fast eating' habit is a shame, this is not the biggest shame there is in relation to food and having dinner.

Please go to a restaurant, have a drink or something to eat and take a look around you. How many people do you see that are actually talking to each other (and looking at each other) and that do not have their phone in hand? Please, take a look and count...

Not many I guess?

When you go to a restaurant or bar you see, I think, about three quarters of the people sitting with their phones or having their phone lying next to them on the table. In my opinion you go to dinner with friends and/or family to talk to each other and to have a good time, not to talk to other people via Whatsapp or to check what other people are doing on Facebook. And especially not to work during dinner. But unfortunately I think not many people agree with me. Many people talk more on their phones while having dinner in a restaurant than talking to their company.

Of course I think this is really rude. But what I think is even worse, is that it is disrespectful to the food you are eating and especially to the people that prepared the food for you. Those people worked really hard to prepare a nice meal for you and you just eat it without enjoying it and without appriciating it. We really forgot how to appreciate food and how glad we should be with the food that is on our plate and the possibilities we have to go out to a restaurant to eat. In stead of enjoying our food and the company we have, we are just to busy with the rest of the world via our phone.

The phone is even taken into the etiquette. When one is setting the table for dinner we need to keep a certain space empty for people to put their phones. I am really sorry, but how ridiculous is that?

Fortunately, the owners of a bar in Brazil think the same way. They are serving beer in a glass that can only stand on the table when it is put on a mobile phone. In that way we cannot look on our phone and we are forced to talk to the people with whom we are sittig at the table. Of course this idea still has some flaws, but it is a very good step in the right direction.

For more information about this glass and this bar please check: http://time.com/40292/you-cant-drink-this-beer-if-youre-using-your-phone/

People, we really need to think about this. We need to go back to respecting and appreciating food, to enjoying dinner with the people we love, to taking the time to eat.

To seeing dinner as a moment to relax and a moment to catch up with the people we love. To enjoy the food that is on our plate, taking the time to enjoy it and to forget the rest of the world around us exept for the food and the people we are with.

Please keep your phone in your pocket the next time you are going out to dinner and only use this for emergencies. And no, wanting to know what your ex is doing at that moment is NOT an emergency.

Please try it, try to keep your phone in your pocket and try to fully enjoy the food and your company. Forget work, Whatsapp and Facebook. They will still be there after dinner, I promise you!

For The Love Of Food, keep your phone in your pocket during dinner!