Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for February 12, 2019

Okay, I can accept red wine with everything. But four pours usually finishes the bottle. And to put the residue in an ice bucket?

Sometimes cell phones are a supplement to conversation. You say, have you tried that new Chinese restaurant down on Hanford St? Response, Oh, Little Chengdu? Yeah it gets great ratings…

Um, food was invented before fire.

The first to Google ID their food wins.

An hour later: Wait a second. Did we forget to eat?

This may be relevant in today’s society but not to me. I like to eat it while it’s hot. The phone is not within arms reach, nor are calls accepted while eating. My phone is never glued to my hand.

…and warm wine.

At least they are not taking pics of their food to post online. My kids do that and when it’s my plate they want to photograph, I get irked!

It’s just as well; they’ve gone to Pontius Pilate’s Ptomaine Palace just down the street from Ballard Street. They’ll be better off if they don’t ingest!

The phone is why I no longer accept meal invites from my boss.

I’m always with the only one I want to talk with anyway.

Must be at least one empty in the kitchen.

This is a sad commentary on not only the folks in Ballard but unfortunately, Worldwide. All too often, my First Maite and I go out to dinner and observe all the diners glued to their cell phones, barely glancing up to look at what they’re eating, let alone talk to their dinner companions.

I have a major, unbreakable rule on my galleon The Irish Rover® and at my Casa de Los Abuelos in Ecuador … NO ELECTRICAL DEVICES AT THE DINNER TABLE !!

The crew, the kids and grandkids, and _even) First Maite may grumble and gripe, but if they want to eat they leave the cell phones and tablets aside, while we eat.

“No dessert for me, I’ve been playing too much ‘Candy Crush’…”

I’m sitting at the table with my breakfast and my laptop in front of me.

My oats are cooling.

My porridge (and my coffee) frequently gets cold while I go through my morning comics.. Sad.. but I have gotten to actually like cold oatmeal porridge.

These kind of jokes are getting way too old and aren’t funny anymore. Cellphones are a detriment to human interaction and socialization.

I don’t get it. Why are people constantly looking at their phones?

4 seniors more interested in their cell phones than their meals? In what universe is this?

You can see The World card (XXI) very VERY plainly in this. With the Queen of the Coins in the upper left corner, the IX of Swords in the upper right corner, the IX of Wands in the lower right corner, and the IX of Coins in the lower left corner. Then lay Judgement (XX) flat across The World, sort of like a faux Celtic cross. Then ask: What has The World come to? Then choose four random cards for an answer. What do you get?

De-“evolving.” They are having an intense discussion with each other.

Maybe they are texting each other.