Smartphone use has taken over every aspect of our lives. Too many people even use them during dinner. Caitlin Dewey argues in a recent Washington Post blog that we should stop using our smartphones at dinner.

She begins by telling a story of a friend many years ago who was tech-obsessed. She avoided eating with him because he was always scrolling through his phone. That was years ago, and the problem has grown worse and essentially become mainstream.

Go to any restaurant, and you will find lots of diners looking at their phones when they could be involved in a meaningful conversation with a real live person across from them. Of course that would require the other person to get of his or her phone and also engage in a conversation.

The best estimate is that at least a third of all American adults use their phones during dinner, which she rightly calls the most fundamental of social encounters. Researchers at Virginia Tech found that individuals engrossed in their phones were “more likely to miss subtle cues, facial expressions, and changes in the tone of their conversation partner’s voice.”

Another study found that 9 in 10 people feel their loved ones neglect them in favor of technology. This is having a negative impact on children. Parents on smartphones are more likely to ignore their kids. And this behavior is teaching the next generation to focus on technology instead of people.

Some restaurants are also starting to complain. One restaurant explained that people on smartphones was hurting their business and was becoming an inconvenience to servers. When they compared surveillance tapes from ten years ago to current ones, they found the patrons were taking longer to order and longer to finish their meals. They were taking pictures of their meals, taking selfies, and spending long periods of time with their smartphone.

The solution is simple. It is time for us to turn off our phones and learn how to talk to people sitting across from us.