by Michael Barbosa

Created on: September 07, 2008

I think cellular phones should not, under any circumstances, be banned anywhere, especially not in restaurants. People are way too sensitive these days with table manners. There are other things that are much more rude than talking loudly in public. In fact, there are other things going on in the world that go far beyond dining etiquette.

I have a word that describes people who try to act polite in public, and that word is FAKER! Seriously, how many of us are really as polite as we seem to be in public? Come on! Just be yourself. And what's the big deal if my elbows are on the table while I eat?

Need I mention the issue of certain matters of urgency that can arise at any given time that require our immediate attention? I don't know about you, but I am not willing to run the risk of missing out on any urgent messages in an effort to protect my public image. This is a no-brainer by far!

Furthermore, people just need to come to the realization that times are changing. The world just isn't what it used to be. Men use foul language in the presence of women in children, many kids don't have respect for their elders, and too many people just have no work ethic. So yes, the world is changing, but once in a while change is good. Without change, their is no life.

Who makes the rules anyway? I mean, really, I want to know who was the low life who decided to sit there and make up a bunch of stupid rules that we all have to follow while we're dining. Nature did not intend man-made rules. Have you ever seen a dog practice good manners while he's eating. No. Know why? Because the sole purpose for eating is to kill one's hunger. If we're going to start setting rules while we eat, we might as well set rules when we go for a swim at the beach. Yeah, there's an idea, let's ban the use of a beach ball while we're in the water. Seriously, people, who cares?

I have seen some pretty ridiculous things in my life. Wearing uniforms to work, having to sound like a happy-go-lucky robot for the sake of customer service, restaurants throwing away food rather than giving it away, not being able to defend one's self from the verbal abuse of a referee during a sports match. But now people want to ban cell phones in restaurants? Umm...ok, would you like to shave half of my head? Maybe you ought to give me a list of words that I can or can not use while conversing with my dinner guests. It just won't fly!

Basically, to anybody who makes an effort to be polite, as long as you're consistent, my hat's off to you. But people just need to stop being so uptight. There are worse things that can happen than....."oh my God, it's a cell phone!"

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