An Idea Whose Time Has Come –
Unfortunately
I'm old. And every day I feel a little
older. No, I'm healthy, wealthy, and wise enough.......well, two
out of three ain't bad. That's not the problem. What makes me feel
old is living in a time in which we actually have to tell people things like the fact that it's not safe to text and drive. Imagine my best creaky, cranky
Grandpa voice here: “In my day,
people were smart enough to know that you can't write a letter and
drive a car at the same time.” Young whippersnappers! Today, not
only do you have to tell people
basic common sense stuff like that, but you actually have to convince
them of its veracity! It boggles
the mind and makes me wonder where we, as a society, are headed. Of
course, I've been wondering that since the first label I read on a
frozen pizza that said, “Cook before eating.” Or the one on the
back of the cardboard windshield sunscreen that said, “Remove
before driving.” Signs of the times.
Now fast food chicken chain Chick-fil-A has hatched an idea whose time has
come – unfortunately. I say “unfortunately” because it is a sad
reflection on modern times that such an idea has even to be
conceived, much less implemented. “Why, in my day.......”
Oh, never mind.
A
franchise operator in Georgia got a little concerned when he noticed
that families were coming into his restaurants firmly attached to
their cell phones. Look around; you'll see it every day. Families and
groups of friends go to a restaurant, order their food, pull out
their phones, and proceed to totally ignore one another. And that's
not the way it's supposed to be. Eating together is supposed to be
the ultimate act of communion. Why do you think churches use that
word for the sacramental sharing of bread? You come together to eat,
to share, to converse, to commune. You're
not supposed to sit there with your nose stuck to a screen checking
Facebook or playing Candy Crush. You're there with other people.
Be a person, for
gawdsake, not just an organic extension of an electronic device. Why
do you find it necessary to “connect” with a “friend” on the
other side of the planet when you can't connect with the one sitting
on the other side of the table? And why do old people like me have to
explain that? “Back
in my day.......”
Anyway, this
Chick-fil-A franchisee came up with a plan to combat this rampant
cybertronic isolation. He invented what he calls the “Cell Phone
Coop.” Basically, it's a cardboard box, dressed up with printed
chicken wire, that sits on the table. The front of the box says,
“Chick-fil-A Family Challenge.” Printed on the sides are the
instructions: “How the Challenge Works: 1. Turn all family cell
phones to silent and place in this cell phone coop. 2. Enjoy your
Chick-fil-A meal and each other distraction free. 3. After the meal,
let us know that you have successfully completed the challenge and
each of you will receive a small Icedream cone.”
"We really want our restaurant to
provide a sense of community for our customers, where family and
friends can come together and share quality time with one another,"
Georgia operator Brad Williams explains.
The idea has caught on. Williams
estimates that about ninety percent of customers who attempt the
"cell phone coop challenge" are successful. A few fall
short. He cites the example of the family who tried the challenge but
failed when one of the kids just had to
send a text during the meal. But the father assured him the family
would return the following week and try again. And the concept has
spread within the chain. At last count, nearly two hundred
Chick-fil-A locations around the country have embraced the cell phone
coop.
The notion of
paying people to stay off their damn phones for a few minutes is not
entirely new. Some restaurants have long offered discounts to patrons
who leave their devices at the door. Other establishments just appeal
to a rapidly disappearing sense of etiquette and propriety by posting
signs asking diners to turn off or silence their phones. Pandering to
greed is usually more successful.
And that's strange
because a recent Pew Research survey indicates that only thirty-eight
percent of respondents approve of cell phone use in restaurants.
Meaning that sixty-two percent of old fuddy duddies like me think
such behavior is crass and ill-mannered. And yet the problem
persists.
So, inasmuch as I
believe it to be a sad reflection of the times in which we live, I
suppose the societal reeducation process has to begin somewhere and
if it requires outright bribery, whether through discounts or
desserts, then so be it. Hooray for Chick-fil-A. May their coops
remain full and their Icedream machines empty.
Now let's see if
some enterprising movie theater operator can come up with a similar
scheme.
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