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Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer  So, if I'm in Kyoto, eating at a McDonalds, my privacy doesn't count? Any slob at the next table can intrude with a ringing (is that the right word, considering some of the "ring tones" that are being downloaded) phone and loud conversation. But if I move upwards one step, to a casual dining place, then phones are considered impolite.
Me, I don't see any difference. |
Well, people here don't really go to McDonald's to eat exactly. Fast food joints are hangouts. Students will get a meal set and sit for two hours, for example. So it's not quite the same. On the other hand, I don't see a lot of people using cell phones in ramen bars, which is where businessmen (among others) bolt down lunch. Fast food joints are very much the exception.
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Of course, phone ettiquite is an all but lost artform anyway. F'rinstance, how come people who complain about companies putting them on hold have no problem, while talking to somebody, saying, "hold on a sec. There's a call on my other line."?
To my way of thinking, that's one of the rudest things you can do. What you're saying is, "you're not as important to me as this incoming call, so you can wait while I talk to them."
Trust me, anyone who does that when I'm on the phone does not find me waiting when they finally come back.
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I really, really hate "call waiting." Not only do I dislike it for all the reasons you so clearly state, but when I'm on a phone that has it, I hate trying to have a conversation while the stupid thing beeps at me. I'm on the phone, right? Don't bug me with another call.
I admit, though, that I've never quite managed to train myself to answer the phone properly, giving my name for example, or the name of the office when I've worked at one. You know, "Nero Wolfe's office, Archie Goodwin speaking." After business hours Archie always says "Nero Wolfe's residence, Archie Goodwin speaking." I just say "Hello?" which isn't at all proper or helpful.
Umberto Eco had a very perceptive remark about cell phones, which is that they're the bourgeois way to pretend to oneself that one is super-important. "Sorry, I'm on the phone, lots of business, so important." Yeah? Here's what happens with actually very important people: they have people to answer the phone for them, and they get to decide whether they're going to take the call or call back when it's convenient. You call Mr. Obama, he doesn't pick up the phone, you know what I mean?
Getting back to restaurant service, before Nicko comes down like a ton of bricks...
The only staff who should
ever be on the phone are hidden from customer sight and hearing, ideally, and if necessary perhaps the front desk taking reservations. Sure, chef may be yelling at some supplier on the phone, but that's not where guests are. As to the guests, I think every restaurant with aspirations to quality ought to consider a cell phone blocker and a clearly-stated policy. If you're, I don't know, a doctor on call, you check your phone or blackberry or beeper or whatever at the door, and if there's a call, a member of the service staff will come and tell you. Then you get up, go to the lobby or something, and deal with it. They do it at the Metropolitan Opera, so why not a restaurant? I have no patience with this.
My father, who's a fairly distinguished physician, has always been ultra-scrupulous about this: if you're on call, you don't go out, and if you're going out but something has come up (a patient is in the hospital for an emergency, let's say) you check your beeper or phone at the door; these days he has to set it on vibrate, but he puts it on message only -- no direct calls. Not only is this polite to everyone around you, but it means you're not discussing your patient where people can hear you, which is basic professionalism. I don't see for a minute why a businessman grappling with a complicated deal, or a lawyer fighting with a messy case, or whatever, should be any different: why should your clients, whatever your profession, not be entitled to privacy?