Table for Two. Devices for Nine.

It was lunch two days ago. I couldn’t help myself. I had to comment on their tablescape and then insist on taking a photo, while standing on top of a chair. It was just too good. Too perfectly, unmistakably San Francisco.

Two people. Six phones. One laptop. Two iPads.

We laughed about it. They weren’t offended. They were amused. “We know,” one of them said. “It’s bad.”

It was…. Memorable. This is kind of how we dine now. Half here. Half reachable. The world laid out between the charcuterie plate.

It struck me that we’ve stopped leaving the room. Lunch isn’t lunch. It’s a pause between notifications. I’m not judging it. I live in it, too.

I just found myself wondering what it would feel like to close every screen, turn everything face down, and let the table hold only what’s actually there.

Table for two. Devices for none.