My generation, the Gen Z (or iGen), gets a lot of hate for being on our phones, and I’m not going to make any excuses for us, but I am going to draw attention to those Gen Xs (iGen’s parents and grandparents) that are just as guilty of the addiction to technology as everyone else claims we are.

There are clear differences between those who have grown up with technology and those who did not; however, all differences need to be set aside when we are at the dinner table (even if that dinner table is at a little restaurant).

There is nothing more disrespectful than someone being on their phone when at a restaurant.

I usually don’t notice it too much because the people I eat with are usually pretty good about keeping conversation and not being on their phones, but the other day my boyfriend and I were celebrating a late Valentine’s Day date at a Japanese restaurant in Evansville, Indiana, and we both noticed the surrounding tables.

At one table in particular, there was a family of four: parents, a daughter and a son. Both of the kids seemed to be teenagers, but what struck me was not them, but rather their parents.

The kids talked to one another and laughed back and forth while both of the parents were preoccupied on their phones on the opposite side of the booth.

There were several moments, though, when the two siblings would try to get their parents’ attention and would have to ask the same question a few times in order to get the parents to look up and respond.

After looking around the rest of the restaurant, there was another parent and a young teenager who, this time, were both on their phones, not interacting at all with each other.

And the depressing, isolating trend continued throughout the room.

Most of the people at these tables were glued to their screens almost the entire time they spent at the restaurant— with the small exception of them actually eating their food.

My point is yeah, my generation is guilty of having an addiction to technology and the “satisfaction” that our screens seem to provide us. But the Gen X’s are just as bad, if not worse.

It’s time to detach ourselves from the screens. At the very least, during dinner time.

Natalee Reynolds is a sophomore English and creative writing major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at nmreynolds@eiu.edu.