Making a meal of selfies in restaurants

In Issue 561 (News, page 6) you asked whether it’s rude to use phones in restaurants. It bemuses me how anyone can think it’s acceptable behaviour. My eyes were opened to how antisocial they can be when a group of inebriated young people on the table next to me spent the first 10 minutes after their meal arrived taking gurning selfies, much to the obvious annoyance of the staff.

Then, when they finally got around to eating their meal, they complained that it was cold. I felt like yelling, “Yes, that’s because you spent the past 10 minutes taking stupid photos that nobody will ever want to look at”.

The waiter made this point in more diplomatic language than they deserved, and they decided not to argue. Even so, it was appalling behaviour.

I think the first restaurant that bans

phones will see a surge in customers. Many diners will even pay a little bit more to avoid people chatting gibberish into their precious phones.

Howard Abbott

People use phones at tables all the time, even between mouthfuls of food. How sad is that? It is ignorant, antisocial, and extremely bad manners, like wearing baseball caps indoors at the table and even backwards.

Where did manners, discipline and respect go? I was happy to see a sign in a café in Lyme Regis saying: ‘We have no Wi-fi, talk to each other’!

Paul Yorke-dunne

I once saw a phone-tapping diner drop his expensive phone into his tomato soup. I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did.

Adrian Cotton

CA SAYS Judging by the amount of emails we received on this particular subject, few things irritate you more than disrespectful diners using phones in restaurants.

Is there anyone prepared to defend this behaviour?