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I thought we were over this whole "cell phones are evil" thing. I mean, come on. Why is having a cell phone in a restaurant any worse than having a teenage boys or a small child in there with you? Frankly, my cell phone is far better behaved than most of the kids I've seen. Most of the time it sits in my bag and no one would know it's there. And I'd say it's the same for most cell phones I know, most of the time.

Yeah, I know. There are lots of wankers out there who like to get their expensive toys out of their pockets and talk loudly to their brokers about their fast cars but do you really notice? Is it really that more offensive than hearing the moronic conversations of the other people around? And why are we listening to them anyway when we have perfectly good dining companions of our own to chat to? And if it's one of my dining companions with the phone going off, then I know it's happening for a perfectly good reason. Most of the people I'm likely to dine with are other mothers and I have to say that for me as a parent the cell phone has been one of the great inventions. I can be close to my kids all the time.

There are lots of good reasons for having a cell phone with you in a restaurant, not least of which being so that the friend who you're supposed to be dining with can call and let you know that sorry, they are going to be half an hour late, and you can have a second glass of something while waiting for them without having to worry that they've either stood you up or driven their car off a bridge on the way to dinner. Having got that call, I'd settle down for a game of tetris on my cell phone while I wait for them, but that's just me.

Are we seriously that inconvenienced by people talking while in restaurants? It just doesn't bother me. My tastebuds work perfectly well even when there's noise. Even when there is some bozo who wants to blah blah blah to his mates while I'm trying to eat. Not a problem, now if we were talking about cell phones in cinemas, well, I'd have something else to say about that.

What we're really talking about here isn't the use of a perfectly good 21st century toy, it's bad manners. It's people who don't have the good sense to take their private conversations somewhere private. Now, I'd LIKE to be able to ban them from restaurants, public transport, road usage and generally being anywhere that I'm likely to go. What I shame I can't.

Learn more about this author, Amanda Le Bas De Plumetot.
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