Originally Posted By wonderingalice Mr. Alice and I made first-time reservations recently for a nice dinner last Thursday at Little Buddha in the Palms Hotel. Upon arrival we were struck by the restaurant's beautiful, intimate atmosphere with soft lighting and an eclectic selection of music. We were seated at a table that featured an aisle chair and a long booth that served three additional tables/diners opposite their partners... Comfy, but very close quarters shared with the other two couples. The friendly waiter greeted us with menus and gave us time to choose our drinks and appetizers. After ordering our 'beginnings,' we settled in for a lovely evening... Or so we thought. Soon after we began enjoying our food, a young, late-20-something couple came in. Very attractive couple... no bad odors emanating from them - no worries, right? WRONG. Almost immediately they both took out cell phones and proceeded to ignore each other and disturb us with non-stop yakking. At one point, the young man became so obnoxiously loud that I let him have a very distinct "SHHHHHH!!" He never looked my way, but did lower his voice. How they managed to order their food, I'm not certain as I was really attempting to ignore them and carry on a nice conversation with Mr. Alice. They ended calls and began new ones throughout the meal. Finally, they finished eating and the waiter brought the check. He asked them how they enjoyed everything and the young woman responded, "It was absolutely lovely!" How the heck did she know? She definitely hadn't paid any attention to her food aside from sliding it onto a fork and shoving it between her flapping lips. Then it happened... Mr. Alice sneezed. And Mrs. Yakkey - who was now off the phone - jumped in to say how horrible her allergies are at this time of year and how she just can't stop sneezing. Mr. Alice responded pleasantly... And what did WonderingAlice do...? Deadpan, she turned to the rude diner and said, simply... "Must be a drag getting snot all over your cell phone." And then I looked to Mr. Alice with a sweet, eye-batting, closed-mouth smile and took a sip of my drink.
Originally Posted By Pixie Glitter ROFL!! Good for you. Dang, I hate it when people talk on the phone (always loudly, it seems) in nice restaurants!
Originally Posted By wonderingalice I hear ya, Ms. Glitter... And this was THE worst example I've ever experienced! *LOL* LVBelle... Are you SURE you don't want me to drop in on this weekend's soiree?? ;-)
Originally Posted By trailsend HAHAHAHAHA Good for you!! SO SO RUDE! Boy, didn't that feel good to say it! Oh, yeah!
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Oh YES, trailsend, it sure did!! It was like having this great opportunity just handed to me on a platter. I was SO beaming on the inside after I said it!
Originally Posted By LVBelle Oh, wonderingalice, don't tempt me! My cousin called to offer me a job at the wedding- she wants me to hand out little tissue packs before the wedding that say "Tears of Joy." Talk about a demotion....
Originally Posted By Ursula I am thrilled to hear you said something in a clever and witty way. As you know, I hate taking calls during a meal. (I've dined with Ms.Alice and my husband called during our meal to check on my arrival time back at our hotel. I needed to arrange times with him yet didn't want to seem rude, so at one point I think I put Ms. Alice on the phone also with my husband so she didn't feel singled out). How you managed to last the entire meal is beyond me! And what is up with fancy restaurants squishing in patrons like that?
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Oh, LVBelle! You said "no," I hope! Ursula, sweetheart... The day we were at lunch was SO different than this... it never bothered me that your love called. It really wasn't squishy or uncomfortable otherwise... No butts in faces while seating, etc. *L* The next couple that came in was just fine.
Originally Posted By JohnS1 I'm sure this suggestion will be heresy to those who can't stand to miss any incoming calls...but I would tend to frequent more, er...frequently, any restaurants which had a policy of forbidding the use of cell phones. I think it would get the same sort of support from people who hate smokers in restaurants. In fact, I think that ... oh, gotta go. I have a call coming in.
Originally Posted By Ursula I would tend to go to restaurants that banned cell phone use in the dining areas. It could be very old school, you know, like in the old movies where a doctor was at a play and he could alert the usher that he was a doctor and any urgent calls should be held until he was summoned? I love my pharmacist. She banned all use of cell phones at her counter. The lines were insanely long all of the time because the customers were on the phone and not paying attention to the pharmacist's questions. I guess the rude customers assumed she knew who everyone was and why they were there...?
Originally Posted By wonderingalice ^^I agree with you guys... Cell phones at grocery store and pharmacy registers is my second biggest pet peeve. Overall, I'm of the opinion that these self-absorbed cell phone yakkers are completely oblivious to the fact that they are fooling no one into believing they're as monumentally important in this life as they think they are.
Originally Posted By nevadarebel what a great job you did, I would have loved to seen the look on her face!!! I think LVBelle should let you go to the party this weekend!
