We\u2019ve all seen it.<\/p>\n
A couple walks into a restaurant and within minutes of being seated, they begin thumbing their cell phones, only to gaze up from their screens in partial alertness to interact with the wait staff. For the remainder of the meal, their eyes never really settle on much else, or each other, as they succumb to the alluring conveniences of text messaging, web surfing and social media.<\/p>\n
Claudia Erickson used to be that type of person. Her husband and two teenage kids still fit the bill. But she hopes they might change because of the behavioral examples she\u2019s setting personally and publicly through her recently created program, Unplugged Village.<\/p>\n The effort combines survey results and research data pertaining to the ill effects of heavy technology use as the catalyst for getting consumers to occasionally dine tech-free \u2014 and to shed light on the forgotten beauty of face-to-face communication in all aspects of life.<\/p>\n Erickson\u2019s \u201ctech break\u201d dining events so far have been held on Tuesdays at La Mesa restaurants with the support of restaurant owners and sponsors. Hosts have included Fourpenny House, Centifonti\u2019s Restaurant, Trattoria Tiramisu and San Pasqual Winery Tasting Room & Gallery. The same restaurants, in addition to The Lunch Box, will take part again at various times throughout the day and evening on Sept. 25.<\/p>\n Convivial in nature, participating customers place their cell phones in buckets at the start of the meals or stack them face down in the center of the table. Anyone who grabs their device to answer a call or check a message must pay the entire bill or wash everyone\u2019s dishes at the end of the meal.<\/p>\n Diners are given permission, however, to take pictures of their food.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like smokers having to take a puff of that cigarette. Do it and get it over with,\u201d Erickson quipped, recognizing that such photographs ultimately benefit a restaurant\u2019s image once they find their way onto social media.<\/p>\n Erickson holds a master\u2019s degree in public health. She\u2019s maintained positions at Rady Children\u2019s Hospital, Scripps Memorial and the San Diego chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Throughout most of her career she engaged frequently in social media and other forms of electronic communication.<\/p>\n \u201cI was the worst offender, the person who checked messages even during vacations,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIf you sent me an email at 10 p.m., I replied right away.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time she began taking note of technology leaders bragging about how addicting their new devices and applications are while promoting them in the mass market.<\/p>\n \u201cIt answers why we can\u2019t put the darn phone down,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n Former Google employee Tristan Harris had also caught her attention. He started a movement called The Center For Humane Technology, which comprises an impressive team of former tech insiders calling on tech engineers to start designing products that extract less attention from society.<\/p>\n Though vague in their solutions thus far, the correlations between incessant technology use and issues of depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorder are more tangible, but not entirely proven, according to a study at the University of Pittsburgh. In another study conducted recently by Common Sense Media, it showed adults spend more than nine hours a day consuming media, mostly from hand-held devices.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m concerned about this from a public health standpoint,\u201d said Erickson, adding that a growing number of people she knows working in the mental health field are currently treating patients for technology dependencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s doing so much damage, and I\u2019m concerned about what kids are no<\/em> learning in terms of problem solving and communication skills.\u201d<\/p>\n In looping back to the issue of cell phone use while dining, Erickson cites a 2015 Pew Research Center survey in which 88 percent of respondents believe it\u2019s generally not OK to utilize the devices during meals. Those results perhaps fueled the policies of certain restaurants around the nation to ban or dissuade customers from using cell phones inside their establishments.<\/p>\n Locally, servers at Mister A\u2019s in San Diego have been known to politely nudge phone chatters out of the dining room and into the foyer for the duration of their calls. In a sterner approach, places like The Violet Hour in Chicago forbid phone use altogether in the bar lounge.<\/p>\n Brian Fitch of La Mesa is a seasoned diner and \u201csmartphone junkie.\u201d As a salesperson for a sporting goods company, he asserts that he wouldn\u2019t set foot into a restaurant with such policies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be like telling me I can\u2019t shuffle through a folder of work documents at my table or reach out to friends while I\u2019m at the bar having a drink to come and join me at the restaurant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Though supportive of Erickson\u2019s efforts, Centifonti\u2019s owner Carol Tolosko admits she would never implement a full ban on cell phones because of the professional clientele the restaurant attracts.<\/p>\n \u201cBut once in a while, it\u2019s good for getting people to socialize with each other,\u201d she said, noting that the restaurant\u2019s flat-screen televisions are turned off during tech-break Tuesdays and that she donates 10 percent of sales from the events to Children\u2019s Hospital or animal rescue programs.<\/p>\n Unplugged Village has become a full-time project for Erickson. She\u2019s intent on recruiting more restaurants into the program and also conducts public and private workshops on technology addiction, offering tips and tools on everything from understanding online privacy issues and identifying \u201ctime-sucking\u201d applications, to helping family members overcome their technology dependencies.<\/p>\n On that front, \u201cIt\u2019s always best to start with yourself first,\u201d she advises.<\/p>\n Her mission, she emphasizes, is to help modify our relationship to technology rather than eradicate it from our lives entirely \u2014 an unrealistic goal by all accounts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not telling people to go live in a forest and give up technology forever. That\u2019s not my thing. I\u2019m instead using a little bit of levity to show that moderation is the better answer,\u201d she said before pointing out with a chuckle: \u201cI wear a watch because checking the time on my phone leads to other things.\u201d<\/p>\n For an updated schedule of workshops and tech-free dining events, or to contact Erickson directly, visit unpluggedvillage.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Take](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Unplugged-Village-Claudia-Erickson-at-San-Pasqual27s.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>
a little humor greet restaurant-goers
taking part in tech-break Tuesdays.
(Courtesy Unplugged Village)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>