I had lunch with an old friend, who by the way loves his Blackberry. He clung it like a little girl coddles her teddy bear. The thing kept going off and then he would clickity-clickity-click-send. Whatever conversation we were having would just stall while I waited for him to type his message with his thumbs. This is not the first time that this has ever happened to me, and while this time it was the Blackberry, it could have been a cell phone, or any other type of personal electronic device.

All I’m asking here is for him to be courteous and put it away while we talk and eat. If it is really that important, fine, but I can’t imagine what could have been going on at the office that couldn’t or wouldn’t have waited. Every time that thing went off, I got a little more irritated. You can’t have a discussion about business, or about anything with constant interruption.

So I’m asking you, please put your electronic devices away during lunch and pay attention to your guest. It’s courtesy and it just makes sense. Also, you never know if the person on the other side of the table is going to offer you a job or make a business proposal that by not paying attention and being less than courteous could cost you thousands of dollars.

And do me a favor, if you invite me out and your not going to put the thing away… don’t bother inviting me