Cell phone use in restaurants

We all have them. They're kind of like unruly pets we all sheepishly keep indulging. But does that mean we put them on the table next to the salt and pepper, answering the extra-loud Super Mario Brothers theme ringtone every 2 minutes? By the way, that ringtone is #4 on this week's Billboard top ringtone chart. The rest:

1 John Carpenter, Halloween   (very seasonal, don't you think?) 
2  Henry Mancini, Pink Panther    
3 Grupo Montez De Durango, Adios Amor Te Vas      
5 50 Cent, Candy Shop
6 Nickelback, Rockstar   
7 Beyonce, Irreplaceable      
8 Afroman, Because I Got High   
9 50 Cent, Best Friend
10 Rascal Flatts, What Hurts The Most

But I digress. What's the prevailing wisdom on cell phone use in restaurants? Step outside? Put it on vibrate? We all know we talk louder on the phone than we do to our tablemates (because the earpiece isn't connected to the microphone so the user can't really hear himself speaking). Is volume the central problem? Or is it that we leave our tablemates gazing, embarrassed, off into the middle distance while we take a call?

Is there a way to make it less rude?  And for a while there were restaurants with little "please turn off your cell phone signs"--that seems to have gone out the window. Does this mean restaurants, and patrons, are just resigned to shouting and Super Mario Brothers accompanying their meals?

Comments

[Richard Guzinya]

Well "the Mouth", my policy is put the phone in my pocket on vibrate mode only. Unless I am expecting a call or think there may be some emergency, I don't even acknowledge the vibrating ringer, until I am up and away from the table. If I do need to check the call, I say "excuse me, I need to see who this is". I look at the text read out. If I need to take it, I politely excuse myself to go outside or to the bathroom. Normally though, I don't want to be interrupted by any phone calls during a meal I am paying money for ... nor do I at home when a telemarketer calls right when I've set down the delish-Bill-Klein-recipe pot roast. My view is that folks are too cavalier with the cell - be it at dinner, a movie, in a lecture, or LOW in a business meeting even. Call back later - I'm eating; I would expect the same if I called you with a pot roast bite in mid shovel. If it is your infant in the hospital, all rules change, obviously. Remember when we didn't even have these things? We got along fine with 2 dimes at a pay phone and an answering machine at home. ohm sala beeb ... RG

[Kate B]

Answering a call during dinner is really rude. It tells the person you are with that the person on the phone is more important than they are. That's why there is voice mail, for those time when you can't, or shouldn't, answer the call. Granted there are exceptions (family in the hospital, etc.)

[Daisy]

People forget that there was a life before cell phones. I put mine on silent and stick it in my purse. I don't check it until I'm back in my car or at home. It drives me insane to be able to hear someone else on their phone in public. If it's that important to have a casual conversation, don't go out.