DEAR ABBY: I recently attended a party at my parents' house. During dinner, one of the guests' cell phone went off, twice! He answered it both times and held lengthy conversations, and all the while my father was "shushing" the rest of us. I think both were remarkably rude.
My father believes that telephone calls take precedence over everything else, and that the guest "had" to answer his phone and that WE would have been rude to continue talking while he was on the phone.
Anything you can say to change his mind? – NOT WILD ABOUT PHONES
DEAR NOT WILD: It depends upon how stubborn a person your father is. Good manners dictate that when someone is attending a dinner party, his/her cell phone be turned off so conversation at the table isn't interrupted. If that's not possible, then rather than imposing on everyone else, the call recipient should leave the table and talk privately with the caller.
For the host to insist that everyone at the table remain silent for the duration of the conversation was rude to the other guests, and must have put a real damper on the party.