Are We Turning Restaurants Into Department Stores?

Its 7:00am when you first smell that fresh coffee brewing.  Half asleep and groggy eyed, you quietly pour the first cup of piping hot goodness.  As the mug warms your hands, you give a long morning stretch, and lazily open your laptop.  The calm peacefulness of early morning is soothing like crawling in fresh sheets after a hot shower.  Quiet, serene, the morning is yours.  Now it’s time to wake up, sleepyheads!

Like most Americans, your first morning task is to check email, delete spam, and cipher what really matters.  Without fail, there is a coupon in your inbox offering 53% off at your favorite local restaurant.

Hook, line, and sinker you’re sold.  Is this really a good thing?  Are we turning restaurants into department stores?

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Is Checking Email at the Table Rude?

It’s funny to think how far we have come since the first Nokia 5110 cell phones.  Remember all the sweet face plates and bad arse hip accessories?  The Nokia had a battery life of around 3.5 weeks!  Not to mention they were basically indestructible.  I remember nicknaming my Nokia phone “The Brick.”  Two reasons:

1.  The size and weight slightly resembled a brick
2.  It could smash through glass if thrown hard enough

In my eyes, the Nokia was the first widespread personal cell phone that people actually carried.  Who imagined cell phones would become necessity?  Now, it’s a way of life.  Cell phones have connected us in ways never before imagined!  If your restaurant hasn’t already, invest in a smart phone.

So, what’s all this cell phone talk about anyways?  There is a current trend I notice.  When people (especially younger generations) sit down to dinner, where do their cell phones sit?

On the table!

I am guilty of this habit, I admit it.  But it brings about interesting questions.  Why must our phones be in front of us?  Are we that worried about missing calls?  Why should restaurants care?

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