I don&#x27;t know, in those stock photos I can picture them without the books and it doesn&#x27;t seem as bad. They&#x27;re all pictures of people in public places minding their own business. The pictures in the OP are families and friends, often in what looks like what&#x27;s meant to be a social setting, staring at their feet instead of interacting.<p>Of course you can find examples of people reading at the table, but that doesn&#x27;t mean it wasn&#x27;t considered rude. Notice he says Amy was &quot;caught&quot; reading at the table. When you read at the table you&#x27;re sending the message that the other people at the table are boring and unworthy of your attention. Not that I was never guilty of it, I was a pretty rude kid. :)