Eating Alone at restaurants... (57)

I don't lack confidence - if I did I wouldn't be eating out in the first place!

Try not to generalise would you.

I don't imagine people are staring at me as I can quite happy disarm myself and not go out to eat with a book or magazine and just sit. I posted the comment because I have experience the scenario many times here.

I am emotionally mature and very confident in my own skin thank you very much.

Does it stop me eating out alone. No ! Does it stop me travelling around the globe alone. No.

Being Indipendent is the most valuable life a person can posses, i found this to bring out the real person in you, makes you mature, self assured, confident and gives you the will to do anything.

Believe it or not I actually have come across only a few women who have actually said to me they WILL NOT eat out alone. My reply if you're hungry then why not?

I grew up and have always worked in a large city so it's just something you do as common place.

I guess we can look at it in an alternative way .. Why is that people eating alone stair at others to see if they are being watched . Why can't they get on with their eating and don't spoil the occasion for everyone ?

I still think you are oversensitive regarding eating alone . You don't realise that the more uncomfortable you act the more people stair just to see what is wrong ..

Perhaps you can film your eating and market the clips

Thank you Smoky, that's what i'm talking about.

I hadn't in the past paid too much attention to notice if they were sympathetic glances in my direction, perhaps they were

I just considered then to be nosey

think about it... malta is very different to other countries.. im not too sure what exactly it is but ppls lifes seem to be sooo boring that they

1, talk about ppl, even ppl they dont know.
2, like u said why do ppl look at u funny when u eat alone, why do ppl look at me funny when i go cinema alone???

i LOVE malta n wud never go bk to the uk, but alot of the maltese need to consentrate on there lifes more n try to let others live there own without hassal and gossip

Restaurants and the act of "eating out" is primarily a social function; it also why the class of eating establishments are mostly open, meaning no partitions or booths. This is also reflected in the architectural nature of the simple diner versus the typical restaurant.
Many social studies have found that single, lone diners will eat at one with partitions rather than one with an open floor concept. They also take much less time to eat than those who are not alone; one of the main reasons is that they "felt being stared at" by others not alone; social behavior studies using closed circuit cameras have generally shown this to be true, and also that single diners hunched more over their meals.... Eating out alone to many is indicative of not being "socially active",ie. you have no, or little social life. This, unfortunately is one of the general conclusions reached by several of these studies; some of this material , I think appears in the book Manwatching or in another by Desmond Morris, first published in 1977. This is a rather unnerving stigma to contend with for many.
I hate "dining out" alone, especially as I am not fond of eating in some 2 bit diner that reeks of stale beer and greasy foods, but at times there was no alternative. I much prefer a nice refined establishment , however this is rather awkward when alone and you pick the most remote single table you find.
There are ways around this predicament; find a place you like, get to know one of the waiters or the head-waiter; slip him 20 to 50 dollars to send you over any nice looking single female to join you for dinner; works great near closing times.
For males, one easy way is simply to ask one of the "ladies of the evening" to join you simply for a good dinner...they do not often get a chance to eat in a nice restaurant, and will take the break.
While in some military services, several of us usually did this as most of the white native females would not go out with us( all the ludicrous horror stories they had heard), so that left the girls of the street for the only female company available. While some also went afterwards for further entertainments, others did not...usually for "health reasons". It is one option that I have found better than dining alone, in silence amidst couples; it is horribly depressing.