For some time now I have been concerned about the horrific noise level in our local restaurants. Some of the noise is due to deliberate design, with nothing but hard surfaces and loud wait staff, but I also think that folks’ manners, expressly the lack thereof, is greatly responsible. People need to be reminded to keep their voices down. No one needs or wants to have to speak louder because of inconsiderate people at the next table or across the room.

 

We had dinner on Purchase Street last week. It was positively ghastly. You could hear the noise a block away. I told the manager as we left, and he immediately concurred, screaming at the top of his lungs, though I could barely hear him.

 

Needless to say, our special dinner with our daughter was a huge disappointment. Everyone in the place was shouting. No one even tried to speak at a polite level — they just yelled louder.

 

It is rude to disrupt other people’s meals with loud voices. We all need to be reminded of basic courtesies and manners. 

 

 

— Nancy Jane Carson