Should restaurants and bars ban phones? Does the phenomenon of everybody checking their phones dozens of times long before the check comes bother you? For @InsideHook, Kathleen Willcox makes the case. As she notes, the rise in phones was accompanied by a rise in loneliness. Willcox cites the fact that the portion of Americans dining alone is at a record high, with people sharing an average of only 7.9 meals with others per week. And Americans are spending less time with other people than at any time going back to 1965, when the data started being collected. As one restaurateur put it, “You can be in a room full of people and still feel like no one’s really there because everyone is half on their phone. Screens cut through the natural rhythm of a space — the generosity, the spontaneity, that shared pulse that makes hospitality feel special. After so many years in this industry, you really see the difference when guests stay present. The whole room changes. The experience becomes real again.” insidehook.com/cocktails/bar…