With smartphones serving as a constant distraction, it’s hard keeping people’s attention during dinner. Yes, it’s rude, but it’s also the reality of our modern times. The Courtesy Dinner Table is a dining set that attempts to restore some of the table manners that we lost along the way.
Designed by Marleen Jansen, it’s a dining table with a see-saw integrated right into the frame. That’s right, a see-saw. Rather than a toy for children to ride up and down, though, the teeter-totter is intended to be used as dining chairs for two, requiring folks to be mindful of their dinner partner to ensure they’re both seated in a comfortable manner.
The see-saw on the Courtesy Dinner Table will behave like an actual one on the playground. Press your weight onto it and you will lift the other person up; get up and the other person falls down. As such, you’ll need to mindfully pay attention throughout the meal, unless you want your dinner partner to experience an untoward accident with the soup, the spaghetti, or whatever other grub you’re enjoying for the night. Sure, you can still fidget with your phone in the middle of the meal while balancing on the see-saw, but it does introduce an extra obstacle into place that might just encourage some people to put down the phone for later instead. After all, your dining partner can always abruptly jump out of her seat while you’re texting in one hand and holding a glass of tomato juice in the other, in case she finds your behavior at the dinner table just a bit too rude. Hello, iPhone 6 soaked in tomato juice.
The Courtesy Dinner Table was built as part of Jansen’s dissertation project. You can learn more from the link below.
