AGADGET-LOVER from way back, I'd be the last to speak ill of new technology.

But an experience last week reminded me that just because we have a new high-tech way to do something doesn't mean we should.

At least, not incessantly.

The moment came when I was eating lunch in a Northern Neck restaurant.

In the space of a few seconds, the relative quiet of the place was broken by a ringing cell phone.

Not once.

Not twice.

Not even three times.

But four times, leading to a moment when four different people, at four different tables, were blabbing loudly about subjects ranging from a golf date to the morning itinerary.

While I'd be embarrassed to publicly discuss something with a room full of folks listening, none of these cell-phoners did.

Indeed, one of them--a fellow seemingly of retirement years--gestured to another gentleman at his table to join in on the talk.

Two things struck me.

First, having four phones ring almost at once seemed excessive.

Second, none of the folks were teens or even youngsters.

They were all middle-aged or older, perfectly at ease with their miracle machines and the ability to receive calls between bites of crab cake.

Sure, I'll admit that cell phones are a wonderful thing, indispensable for keeping us in touch for critical communications.

But as these four demonstrated, the ability to get a phone call in the middle of nowhere, on a portable gizmo the size of a Baby Ruth, has gone way beyond critical communication.

Whether we're 14, 40 or 74, the device many wear in a holster on their belt has changed all that.

It's now a device that will let us talk almost anywhere and everywhere, whether there's a need or not.

That last part is what got me thinking at lunch.

In the old days, when the only telephones lived on walls, counters and desks in our homes and offices, lunches out were blessedly call-free.

As were trips through the checkout line at the grocery store, walks through the neighborhood or visits with friends in their homes.