Should Cell Phones Be Banned in Restaurants?

I can really appreciate the concerns for the call to ban cell phones in the restaurants. I get really annoyed in the church service and later in the restaurant when phone rings. The ways some people talk on the cell phone in my part of the world are quite unbearable. Not only the voice is loud, but it is sharp too. People may also intentionally raise-up voices to attract surrounding people to show off the new hand mobile.

In Thailand, there are so many cell phone promotions where you pay for a minimal sum of fixed monthly fee and you can talk for fever. People just like to talk on the phone anytime anywhere notwithstanding if there is a need to do so. This is especially true to the young generation courting each other over the phone. Housewives with plenty of free time to shop and dine in the restaurants also indulge in the same practice. And because calls do not incur additional expenses, business person also join in the mobile crowd and chat senselessly to make their fixed bill worth.

In the end, every one carries a mobile and yak-a-yak all over the places. I see people talk in front of a no mobile zone in the hospital, against the law while driving and cause accident, in the bus, on the train, underground subway or up the mono-rail. It is virtually ubiquitous anywhere.

But again, mobile phone is made with the purpose of the conveniences of its' mobile nature. You are kept in touched anytime anywhere as long as it does not cause danger while driving or great annoyance in the hospital restricted area or church service hours.

If we ban them here and there and every where, why should we then need to have a mobile? We might as well go back to the old system of calling the restaurant fixed line and ask the waiter to call Mr. XX on table number 3 to answer the phone. What happen if I work in the restaurant, do I have to leave my cell at home to work?

It is quite common for us to spend an hour or hour and a half in a restaurant, and for many, those time are working time. So it would only be appropriate for them to stand by to answer phones. Your patients may need you, your client wants you, your family is looking for you, subordinate is waiting for your advice, my boss is calling, fire broke out, car accidents, or what we may need to attend promptly. We can not simply shut ourselves out for 1-2 hours of responsibilities.

The problem is not cell phone by itself; it is more to the improper handling manner. We can certainly lower the ring tone, put on vibration, speak softly, kiss (keep it short stupid), walk away to talk, or SMS/MMS talk. But just do not shut off the cell phone just because someone is not handling it right. Please.