Table for One

I have never been the kind of person who minds going out to eat by myself. Sometimes, I rather enjoy it. What I don't enjoy, however, is the treatment that lone eaters can get from some restaurants or servers. They can act like people who are alone aren't worthy of a good table or of good service, or they can even seem to pity us.

Last night, I went out to eat at a restaurant and was told that there are no tables for one person. All single eaters have to eat at the bar. There were, I noticed, plenty of free tables for two people, but I suppose the restaurant thought it was a waste to give those tables to people who were alone.

Ah, well, I thought, I'll eat at the bar. The menu was the same, after all. Well, the service at the bar was awful. I had to practically beg to get the menu, and when I asked to order, the man behind the bar looked at me and said, "What is it you want?" And then, of course, there is the fact that bar stools are not exactly comfortable to sit on and that there is no support for one's back.

When I left, I noticed that those tables for two were still free, and that there were soft chairs set up at them. Why would it have been so awful for this restaurant to let me and the other lone eaters enjoy the comforts of an actual table? I was a paying customer, so why did it matter if I was alone?

--Curly