In yesterday’s post, I stated how, recently, my husband and I went out for dinner together, which is something we do not do as often as we might like. We decided to go to our local Boston Pizza since neither of us had been there in a while, and when offered dining room or barside seating, we opted for the bar.
We were led to a booth, and upon sitting down, both Blaine and I found ourselves simultaneously intrigued and appalled by an electronic device of sorts that was waiting for us at our table. We had no idea what the hell it was, or its purpose, so once we were seated, I decided to explore the thing in hopes of determining what its use was.
From what I can recall, there were three buttons on the device. The first pulled up the restaurant’s menu; the second sent a message to the bar when you’ve finished your meal and would like the bill; and the third showed promotions happening in the restaurant on that given day. What truly floored Blaine and me was the feature on both sides of the device – multiple USB ports, equipped with a charger, for your smartphone.
I looked at Blaine in disbelief, a rather mirrored expression of his own, and said it’s pretty damn sad that we, as a collective society, can’t even get through a fucking meal without thinking about whether or not our phone has enough juice left to get us through the day.
What happened to being present and engaging in meaningful conversation with whoever you have gone out with to dine? We’re now so enamoured by our smartphones that restaurants have to provide us with charging opportunities?
I think a better tactic would be for restaurants to begin offering free dishes to anyone who can make it through an entire sitting without having to check their phone.
Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash
ontheedgeofeverything 