Old Soul Etiquette

Don't Put Your Cell Phone on the Dinner Table | Bon Appétit

"I learned from Mariah Grumet Humbert, a certified etiquette trainer and founder of Old Soul Etiquette in New York City, that nonverbal behavior carries more than half of how we communicate and that taking your phone out at a table often signals inattention. She thinks devices generally don't belong on restaurant tables (with exceptions for business meetings and solo meals) and urges us to evolve within our fast-paced world without losing kindness and respect — the bottom line being to make the other person feel valued. Her practical habits stuck with me: remove headphones and put the phone away when entering a space, briefly use it only to check a reservation or snap a drink photo, treat a server's approach as a cue to stow the phone, and if needed keep the phone on your lap under a napkin set to vibrate; she also suggests asking yourself if you'd take a book out at that moment as a way to resist the impulse to use your phone." - ByMaggie Hennessy