From the article:
"And imagine if more secular places responded in kind: restaurants where smartphones must be surrendered upon entering, or coffee shops that marketed their non-Wi-Fi safe space? "
There was a period in my 20’s when most every Saturday and Sunday began with breakfast at the nearby Denny’s. After slinging some quarters into the newspaper vending box (remember them?), Fern would seat me in a booth, confirm my regular order and bring on the coffee. It was a ritual and quite an enjoyable one. Page after page after bite after page after refill and one more for the road. Driving away always felt good. Gosh, I miss that; never thought it would disappear.
Once I got married, there was no need, no time and really, no good reason to replicate the activity.
When I next entered a Denny’s, sometime in the 2000’s I was very dismayed. The main reason? The blaring flat screen TV. Yah, the food had declined, the coffee was different, the waiter didn’t know me, plenty of reasons to not come back. But it was the damn noise that made my presence there unbearable. I no longer eat at any chain restaurant.
Ditto here.
When we do go to small family-owned restaurants, we asked them to turn off the “thumping noise” (I can’t call it “music”) and ask if they have something more calming, at a lower audio level, so that we can hear one another converse…
To find a restaurant without terrible music, and/or propaganda TV?
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
At least the last Denny’s I visited had classic oldies, and NO TVs
The customers had their smart phones.
We went to a concert recently, featuring opera arias – and were stunned how many people brought their dumb phones – to a concert hall (!!!) It felt surreal to be in such an environment…