Why I’m calling for a new mobile phone code of conduct

IT’S hard to imagine life without mobile phones now, but I do remember a time before they were even invented.

Growing up, not everyone had a landline and pay-as-you-go telephone boxes were the norm. You could hear the lady or gent at the exchange say the words ‘Putting you through now, caller’, just like they did in the movies.

Indeed, almost everyone had to rely on public phones. They were often the target of thieves who destroyed them to get the coins out. It was so annoying because you then had to look for another, which could be streets away.

I remember queuing up in The Canaries in 1988 to use a pay phone. Derry and I took turns so we wouldn’t lose our place as we waited to call home for news of a new arrival in our family. We often queued for up to an hour!

We always had a phone at home because my dad ran a newsagents and we lived over the shop. We would take messages for locals and pass them on.

We bought our first mobile phone for the restaurant in 1990 because the lines on Lower Baggot Street were constantly out of order. No phone meant no business unless people walked in to book a table. In those days we received letters and postcards to make reservations, too.

IN 1994, when most business people had a mobile phone, they were a permanent fixture on tables. There was great competition as to who had the biggest phone with the most aerials to get the best reception.

Diners would make calls at the table — usually they were pretty quick because it cost a fortune. I used to look around to see who they were trying to impress.

In early 1995, a woman celebrating her birthday had a mobile phone that looked like a brick. Every time it rang she would squeal and pass it round the table so everyone could have a word.

After the sixth call, with the dining room full of people clearly annoyed with all the noise, I very politely asked the host — her partner — if they could take any more calls in reception or on the patio in respect of other diners.

He was okay, but 20 minutes later the lady herself came down to me at reception screaming the odds that it was ‘her party and she could do what she wanted’! I couldn’t get a word in before she stormed back to her table.

Funnily enough, the rest of her party were very understanding and apologised for her behaviour.

The next evening, a party of five came in. The host was a regular who I thought I knew well. He too made several calls but when I had a quiet word he turned nasty.

Hence the very next day Darling Derry and I put a notice on the menu that read: ‘We respectfully request in the interest of all our customers that the use of mobile phones is not permitted in the main dining room. Please take calls in the reception area only’.

Fast forward to 2018 and we still have it printed on the bottom of our menus. Most people notice our policy and applaud us on it.

We obviously don’t mind texts or emails. We fully understand that someone may be waiting on a call or need a phone nearby in case there is a problem with the babysitter or someone is ill. We know doctors and other members of the emergency services need to keep their phones on alert, too.

When we go out to eat we keep our mobile phones out of sight and ALWAYS on silent. The only time we leave them out is if there is some kind of emergency.

We have been in restaurants where mobile phones are used liberally and it can be most annoying. You can fully understand people needing to make a vital call, but not a loud, full-blown conversation. (I will never understand why people shout into phones).

I can switch off my phone very easily when I am trying to relax or sleep, or leave it on silent, so if someone really wants me they can text. I love the fact that you can take photos and have email access and so on, but I also feel we all need time to switch off.

Maybe I live in the wrong century. There was a code of behaviour for everything when I was growing up. I believe there should be a mobile phone code of conduct in public places — an etiquette, if you prefer. Am I wrong or just old-fashioned?