An August 19 article in PC World Magazine, “Smartphones Can Distract Diners, Prompting Restaurants to Act” by Christina Desmarais has pushed me right up onto my soapbox this morning, so bear with me while I talk to you about manners, or lack thereof, when dining in a restaurant.

“Cell phones in a restaurant can be distracting. Mobile devices can distract drivers. That's a given. Well, now you can add distracted dining to your lexicon. It's something you see more and more when eating out – people staring at and tapping on their phones instead of chatting with each other. A restaurant in Los Angeles is trying to do something to prevent it. Eva Restaurant gives diners a 5% discount on their bill if they let go of their digital devices before being seated, according to The Los Angeles Times. Owner and chef Mark Gold says he hopes patrons focus on their food and not their phones,” Desmarais wrote.

Gold says about half of his customers have taken him up on the offer:

"For us, it's really not about people disrupting other guests. Eva is home, and we want to create that environment of home, and we want people to connect again," he told a local radio station. "It's about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we're trying to create an ambiance where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company."

While Gold's motivation might not be about removing an annoyance from the eating experience, seeing people attached to their smart phones at a restaurant can drive others around them crazy.

It turns out there's a good reason people get disturbed by the chatter around them in places like restaurants or other public spaces. Researchers at Cornell University found that hearing half of someone's conversation distracts people and can actually lower their cognitive ability. Apparently, people have a hard time ignoring what the researchers called a "half-a-logue." They said it's because you can't predict the speech pattern of a half-a-logue like you can with a monologue or two-way conversation.

From Lorraine F. of Kittery: Rude, rude, rude. What a waste of precious time with family and friends to have to listen to cell phone users on your personal time.

From Nancy G. of Big Pine Key, Fla.: I don't blame you at all. These days most people are just texting and that is so much less annoying. But I want to know what to do about screaming kids!

From Loretta P. of Topsham: I totally understand your frustration, but it isn't just restaurants. People impose their conversations and opinions everywhere! I hear more than I want to know about grocery lists, appointments and complaints of total strangers while shopping, too. Some people are obviously delighted to entertain everyone with the drama of their daily lives and apparently don’t care if you listen in on personal matters.

From Eric B. of Jeanette, Penn.: I'm of the opinion cell phones make people think they are important. Idiots cannot wait to open the (expletive) things on an airplane as soon as they land to tell some other idiot what the weather is like on the runway. Real cool to have a cell phone holster that snaps shut with a loud pop. Too bad they can't shoot themselves in the foot from that holster. Cell phones have a use, especially for emergencies, and I don’t think dining in a restaurant constitutes one.

From Micky R. of West Palm Beach, Fla. and Damariscotta: Three cheers for Paula! There have been times that I would like to speak my mind when people loudly use their cell phones in public. With all the crazies in the world I hesitate to speak up but maybe I’ll go to karate class and do some swift kicking in the....

From my sister, Judy K. of Boscawen, N.H.: I am of an age where what I consider to be proper is often not shared by others. Cell phone usage is a pet peeve, especially because people think they need to holler into the phone which means the rest of the world is forced to listen as well. I often hear things I’d really rather not. This is as much an invasion of my space as someone putting their face right in mine. And one more thing: no one loves children more than I do, but I find it very distracting (to say the least) when there is an upset child in a restaurant and the parents don’t have common sense enough to remove the child so other diners can enjoy their meals. Wow, I sound like a miserable old lady, don’t I? I do try hard to be pleasant to everybody! (And you are, sis!)

And from yours truly: For me, a restaurant is not just a place to eat food – it is a place that should provide an atmosphere that is pleasant and relaxing – an enhancement to the enjoyment of eating food that someone has prepared just for you. One of the hardest rules my mom enforced during my childhood was we were to be together at the supper table every night and were not allowed to be excused to answer the phone. What teenage girl wouldn’t hate that rule? And yet, I imposed the same rule in my house for Scott.

I also think that people who are tuned out from their surroundings by being plugged into their phones or with music rattling their brains via earbuds are missing out socially. As regular readers of What’s Cooking know, I often preach that the purpose for gathering around the table with our family and friends is indeed, to partake of nourishing food to sustain our bodies.

However, there is a different type of nourishment that is equally as important: feeding relationships through conversation. Tune in and talk! No phone calls, no video games, no reading at the table. The dinner table is the perfect place for the family to re-connect after a busy day of everyone going off in a zillion different directions. Food is the nourishment we need to stay healthy and thrive, but the process of sharing that food is indeed, nourishment for our souls and a kind of glue that helps cement relationships.

And if you still aren’t convinced this is a good idea, researchers at Cornell University report there is a good reason that people get disturbed by cell phone chatter: their research shows that hearing half of someone's conversation distracts people enough that it lowers their cognitive ability.

Paula Anderson is a freelance journalist specializing in food, entertaining and nutrition. She writes for several newspapers, as well as Maine Food & Lifestyle Magazine. She divides her time between Scarborough and Big Pine Key, Fla., where she lives with her husband Peter and their kitty Mina. Correspondence can be addressed to her at the Boothbay Register, P.O. Box 357, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538 or the Wiscasset Newspaper, P.O. Box 429, Wiscasset, ME 04578. You can also write to her directly via email at pander@maine.rr.com.

"With money anyone can offer succulent dishes and famous wines, but courtesy and kindness cannot be bought." French lawyer Lucien Tendret (1825-1896)