Ok, at risk at sounding like a boomer, let me preface by mentioning a couple of things: I am in my mid 30's, and I have always hated cell phones. I hated them when they first came out, I hate them now, and I will always hate them into the future. I hate the expectation that I should be available all of the time, and I haven't owned one for about a decade.
With that out of the way ...
I was at a (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner last night. My friend had prepared a very nice dinner for all of us, and a few people brought their own offerings. They were all from a political group that is active on a local campus, so a couple of the people that attended were pretty young.
They spent about half the night staring into their cell phones, at the dinner table where our host had spent hours preparing a nice meal for all of us.
Is this considered "normal" now? I was always under the impression that cell phones should not be used at the dinner table, let alone at a fucking Thanksgiving meal. This is not behaviour that I would allow from my child let alone a fully grown adult.
Am I just old now, and is this now acceptable? Am I just being an old curmudgeon?
in situations like sitting down for a thanksgiving dinner someone spent hours preparing for you, it is polite to show someone respect and appreciation for using their free will to do something nice for you. the same goes for most situations in which people use their free will to spend time with you
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do you typically sit around and talk to those people while you eat?
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that's weird to me I would be embarresed to eat without talking to the person who made my food.
i kinda feel the same way personally; i also know that a lot of people view eating as a communal thing and would like to have a nice conversation and just connect with the people they care about