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When I traveled a lot for work I had to eat alone. Eventually it didn't bother me anymore. I just got used to it. I would eat out 2 or 3 times a week and save money the rest of the time by eating in my room. I would always fill the fridge with food from the local grocery store. I usually stayed in hotels with free breakfast and happy hour and if it was free, I ate it!
The only one who thinks someone sitting in a restaurant dining alone is "looking like a freak" is you. I wouldn't miss out on dining out for the world! If I had to wait for when a friend was available or could afford it, I'd rarely get to enjoy a meal out.
More and more these days, people are inventing excuses for holing up at home: "you can order almost anything to go, and eat in the privacy and comfort of your own home", or "I can watch any film on Netflix; why would I go out to a movie theater?" The whole point of eating out is to break away from the "privacy" (i.e. --isolation) of your own home. Same with going to a movie theater. It's an opportunity to get out and about, and to mingle with your fellow film buff fans, and to socialize. Pretty soon, people will be so cloistered into the "privacy, comfort and convenience" of their own homes, they'll have become shut-ins. Then they'll wonder why they're depressed.
No thanks.
Can't rep you again. That is so true.
Now, I feel perfectly fine being alone in pretty much any situation. I go alone to restaurants, bars, movie theaters, long hikes out in the woods, day-long bike trips, rock concerts etc. But I also like people watching - in a restaurant, in a bar, in a theater during intermission. I went to the opera alone a few weeks ago. I simply could not find anyone in my circle who would be interested in 3,5 hours of German operatic singing, but for me it was an unforgettable experience. In the intermission I went to the bar, got myself a glass of red wine and sat around sipping and watching all the couples and elderly people enjoying themselves. It was fun.
There is a favorite restaurant of mine where I go about twice a month. The staff there knows me, and I know them. We would always have a chat, and then I would order my food and sit around reading a book.
I can think of only one occasion in all the years when I was treated differently by the waitstaff because I was alone. But it was at a place I would not return to anyway.
If I was a single retiree in a HyVee area, i would have no problem eating there DAILY as my main meal. They have a great variety and a good selection of nutritious foods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meemur
Yes, HyVee is an employee-owned grocery store chain in IA - MN - NE (and maybe other places). The larger ones have a cafeteria area, including fresh pizza and "China Express," as well as various hot sandwiches and traditional Midwest meals (several pieces of pork loin, mashed potatoes, and green beans). The menu varies, but the meat is local and the pork dishes are just as good as anything I can get in the chain restaurants. Prices range from $4 - $10 (depending on the specials that day), and you don't need to tip.
You can get the food to go or take it back to an eating area. When I was moving in, I ended up there a lot for dinner. I could get a good meal for not a lot of money and sit in air conditioning for awhile. Or I could take it home and quickly get back to work.
To outsiders it does sound weird, but I've learned to appreciate it. In Columbus, Ohio, there were a lot of hole-in-the-wall, cheap ethnic restaurants where I could run down and get a quick meal to eat in or to Go on busy nights. This is the closest parallel in Des Moines for me. It's come as you are, and parking - seating is never a problem.
You can eat alone (there will be plenty of other solo diners) or bring 5 - 6 people. It doesn't matter.
Interesting. Sounds sort of like the Whole Foods buffet/Pizza section, but more comfort food geared. Still couldn't eat there...but, I can see the appeal!
It's just food. Really.
If I am hungry, and want to go eat out somewhere...alone..I do.
Think about those diners who have to manage their Diabetes blood sugars. Or hypoglycemia. Or other health issues.
It is only a big deal..if you make it a big deal.
"I do notice other diners sometimes take my picture when Im dining alone, one time a couple of young ladies at another table kept laughing at me because I was dining alone, they even laughed as they were leaving and looking at me through the window, it reminded me of the movie the Lonely Guy with Steve Martin."
Nightmare, LOL!
To clarify, before anyone else goes ballistic over the word "freak," a poster inquired if someone dining alone would look like a "freak" to me, and I replied that -- in THIS small town in the south, which is very family-oriented, where restaurants are filled with couples on dates, families after a kids' game or shopping at Walmart, or groups of collegues gathering for happy hour after work, and where I've seen only one person dining alone that I can recall in all the years I've lived here -- it would be a "freakish" sight, given its rarity. I'm not calling names. I also have to wonder, given that 99% or respondents claim to enjoy eating out alone frequently, why I never see any. Must be very geography-dependent...
I have lived in the South...the Deep South even, for over 23 years. I just do as I want to do, and not wait around for others permission and approval. As far as looking for other single diners, it hadn't occurred to me.
I prefer eating in restaurants alone, I like to stop by different restaurants to try out the dishes, plus it's a lot cheaper when your only paying for one meal
just think of it as getting 50% off since you dont have to buy two meals
Im use to it, I do notice other diners sometimes take my picture when Im dining alone, one time a couple of young ladies at another table kept laughing at me because I was dining alone, they even laughed as they were leaving and looking at me through the window, it reminded me of the movie the Lonely Guy with Steve Martin.
Amazing how the act of someone actually eating independently is such a bizarre sight to them. I suppose the thought of actually enjoying delicious professionally cooked food without others in their face distracting them just does not compute? Can they at least go shopping alone? Commute to work alone? Use the toilet alone?
I would have said all this to them when I walked over to confront them. And then return to my table to enjoy my delicious food.
No cooking, no cleanup (yes, I have a dishwasher; big deal! Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a full load, eating by yourself?)
Yes, when I was single I gladly often "ate out" by myself!
In fact, now that I am married (for over 30 years), I still do occasionally.
Wife is scheduled for surgery, and while she is hospitalized, I just might go out to eat by myself.
IMO, it is nobody's business but mine.
I do all of those things alone because they're meant to be done alone: one toilet per stall.
Restaurants: two or more chairs and place-settings per table.
Again, it's not that people can't do it, but why would people want to do it? (original post)
It's really kind of simple. I do it because I enjoy it. Do I feel a need to justify it to anyone? Uh, NO. Just like I would never ask anyone who loves to do an activity that I hate to justify WHY they like it. Frankly, none of my business. Plus it's kind of nasty to look down on someone who doesn't share my particular worldview, ya know?
And no - restaurants do NOT all have two or more chairs and place settings per table. Just so's you know.
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