WE’VE REACHED A stage now where it’s tough to be away from our phones for any length of time without developing a mild form of separation anxiety.

We’ve gone mad checking in to make sure everyone on the knows we’re having a great time, WhatsApping friends in Bondi Beach to tell them it’s raining, taking photos of anything that will hold still long enough, and smugly hashtagging that we #JjustSawBonoOnTheStreetAndImPrettySureHeGaveMeTheNod.

It’s time to get up to speed on the current etiquette surrounding phones and mealtimes. When is it ok to have your phone in your paw or on the table? Is it ever okay?

We’ve weighed up both sides; for and against…

FOR

• How else will anyone know about the delicious food you’re eating?

• Or that you’ve been slaving over a hot oven?

Mmmm a goats cheese, marmalade and kumquat pie. Sounds delicious (Instagram)

• You might want to show your dinner companion(s) an hilarious cat video

YouTube/Ignoramusky

• Maybe you’re on a hideous date and need to be rescued asap

• There might be genuine emergency and you really should answer your phone and rush to someone’s aid

AGAINST

• Maybe nobody wants to know about the delicious food you’re eating

Pictures Of Hipsters Taking Pictures of Food

• If it’s just the two of you, maybe you shouldn’t have you face in your phone, tweeting about how you just saw a pigeon eating sick

• Nobody wants to sit there listening while you have a conversation with A.N. Other about how your day went

Tell us, do you use your phone at dinner, or have it out on the table in a bar?

When is it acceptable to text or call when you’re among company?

Where do you stand on the Facebooking, Tweeting and Instagramming?

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