It's not rude if you don't mind sitting with people who open a book or check the stocks or while eating. Otherwise, yeah. Rude.

Unless you are on-call (for your children) or a family emergency, it is extremely rude and inconsiderate of the others in your company.

Yes it's rude. They can wait till AFTER the meal unless it's an emergency call they are waiting on or expecting. It takes away so much of the enjoyment of the time we have together if they keep looking at their phones. My Grandchildren bring their phones when they visit, but never text, game or call friends when with us. My Daughter is doing the right thing. Once I asked one of them to look at see if they are getting text messages, and they said "yes, but they can wait". Cell phone's in a restaurant are horrible. Ringing or some RAP or C&W tune going off, and then we have to listen to what family members are doing and how their evening is going. So bad!

I think it does depend on the situation. If any necessary cell-phone activity is anticipated, it's best to notify your dinner partner that calls may be expected. But chatting or texting for enjoyment or entertainment or for any reason that can wait until after dinner is rude.

It seems that cell phones are breeding insensitive people, and a few that are without clue one. A couple of days ago I was in the pedestrian crossing in front of HEB's on Navarro. As I looked up there was a woman, cell phone stuck to her ear without a care for others running appox. 25mph. I stopped, stepped back before she could run over me. As she drove by, never looking either way, still on the phone I screamed as loud as I could "Stop for pedestians"! She glanced at me and mouthed "I am on the phone" and drove on still chatting.

Depends upon the situation. There are very few things that are truly black/white situations. If you are on a date, out with your spouse, having a meal with a close friend then it is rude to 'check your phone' unless you are checking on your children or are on the clock.

I'd give someone the benefit of the doubt, because I've been in situations where I've had to keep tabs on a kid (alone) back at home or watch for messages from one kid who was waiting to be picked up from somewhere else. Sometimes I feel like, as a mom, I'm always "on call."

It's so rude. I don't know how many times I've met with someone that I see very seldom, and they spent the entire time on the phone with someone else. It just made me want to get up and leave and quit wasting my valuable time.