My wife Lisa and I were in Red Robin the other night on the East Side and we noticed a twenty-something couple a few tables away. They were both texting on their phones for the first 25 minutes, non-stop, without even once acknowledging or speaking to each other. One of them even checked voicemail using the exterior speaker. That seems to be the trend today in many public places.

A restaurant in Los Angeles is trying a novel idea to keep people off their phones. They have installed a new policy for restaurant patrons allowing them to take 5 percent off their final bill if they surrender their phone to the hostess at the front desk before heading to their table.

This is a great idea and has the potential to spread like wildfire. Phone activity in a restaurant is unfair to other customers and can really put a damper on the dining experience, but some are still reluctant to give up their phone long enough to enjoy a distraction free meal.

Some people believe that texting in a restaurant is perfectly ok, but talking is a different story. Now if they would just hire some hands free police in restaurants, life would be good.

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