Why You Can (And Should) Eat Alone in a Restaurant
We sat in the local Chinese restaurant that I had been dying to try when he offered up a shocking solution. “Why not come here to eat alone?”
I was 20 years old and living in Alabama, my first duty station in the Army. He was my high school English teacher and writing mentor who was visiting nearby family and stopped by to wish me well.
After the substantial bonds I’d formed with my fellow Soldiers in training, I was disappointed to find that I didn’t make many friends in my new assignment. Quite frankly, it was a small base and there weren’t many people my age. This led to long weekends staring at the concrete walls of my barracks room and no exploring my new area.
“If you want to eat in a restaurant, why should it matter if anyone is with you?” He made it sound pretty simple. The thought of everyone staring and judging me made me want to shrink up and hide in my room. What if someone I knew saw me there alone? It was social self-destruction!
But that Chinese food was so good. It may have been the best I’d ever eaten. Maybe he was on to something.
Table for one, please.
When I first started dining alone, it felt like all eyes were on me. And I mean a real sit down restaurant, not a fast food place. Everyone pops…
