Keep your personal items off the restaurant table. It’s a poor practice to place all sorts of belongings on a restaurant table. These include items such as your cell phone, car keys or clutch bag, to name a few. These items are laden with germs. An article in The Wall Street Journal shows how cell phones, for example, are great for sharing not only photos, but bacteria as well. Dr. Jeffrey Cain, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, tested 100 cell phones and discovered them to be“veritable reservoirs of pathogens.”Keeping them off the table will also take away the temptation to use them, which is a rude gesture when eating with others.