PDAs: Personal Displays of (over)Affection?

I don’t know whether it’s because I’m British that public displays of affection sometimes make me want to reach for the nearest bucket, but I think I’m getting used to them. For people who literally cannot stand a physical declaration of love, can they accept it more easily if they knew that that couple had not seen each other for the last few weeks or months?
I was at a restaurant for a friend’s birthday when this question dawned on me. I was sat opposite a couple who had their hands all over each other, holding hands under the table even when it made eating difficult, and whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears and giggling like a five year old.
As the evening wore on I discovered that this couple was in the same position as me – long distance – and they hadn’t seen each other for the last five or six weeks and were making the most of being together. After I found this out I came to look on their PDAs differently – I found it more acceptable. And then I thought about what I would be doing if my other half were with me and I hadn’t seen him for, in my case, more than four months at a time. Of course I’d be doing exactly the same thing; kissing and cuddling and not giving a damn about what the other people around the table thought.
So whether you can handle people touching each other constantly whilst you’re trying to strike up conversation, or whether you find it totally acceptable (although everyone has their limit… grabbing the girl’s ‘chesticle’ would not go without comment from me), I guess it’s true what they say: never judge a book by its cover.