Dining Alone

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Trains too - really sets my teeth on edge when people stuff their faces on trains - I mean c'mon - can't they wait, what goes thro' their tiny brain - I don't want to see it & I certainly don't want to hear it chomping away at whatever - Arrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Last time I got a train down from Town a couple of weeks ago - A guy got on, got out a curry from a few plastic tubs & polished off the lot - the stench was awful & was still there of course when he got off for us all to enjoy - not! No-one else seemed bothered tho' - they were all too busy masticating away themselves...………..!

[Pampy Profile]

Lord above - the thought of someone eating a curry in a train carriage makes me want to

[Sakkarin Profile]

There's a piri piri chicken shop round the corner from me where all the schoolkids get their fix of fried food. And there's a quarter mile open garbage dump from there into town, where the bags/boxes/bones/leftovers get thrown when they're sated.

[Joanbunting Profile]

One of the reasons I stopped going to the cinema was the smell of food and people sitting nearby stuffing their faces with popcorn nacchosetc and making loud slurping noises from the buckets of soft drinks clutched in their sticky mitts

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Lord above - the thought of someone eating a curry in a train carriage makes me want to

It was disgusting Pampy & enough to make me get up & move to another carriage further down - but you could still smell it - my murder glands were well & truly out....!

He was lucky...………….

The thing is with these people - why can't they wait & eat more civilised - enjoy it more instead of just 'filling a hole' - I did think this chap might have just finished a shift somewhere, but even so - why would you just neck food down when you could relax & enjoy at home - worth waiting for - to my mind at least...…..It's definitely a different concept!

But it's the total disregard for anyone else that gets me - which includes the mobile too - how many totally banal, boring & loud conversations I've had to endure on trains etc. is unbelievable.....
I've told people to pipe down & then they look at you like you're from Mars!!

[jeral Profile]

I look at dining alone as to how easy it is in a half-way decent restaurant: How many one/two person tables are there, so will you have to wait ages for an odd one whilst fours in the queue get seated quicker? Are lone tables next to the loo corridor and is it a fool's errand trying to catch a waiter's eye? It could take forever for that to change as I see little signs of it changing, despite Stokey Sue's stats, as restos like to be seen to have cheery vibrant groups not lone diners.

Casual lunchtime eating is quite different of course and a lot of coffee and cake shops expect a clientele of sole long-stay laptop-user customers, or as earlier mentioned those wanting to sit and watch the world go by, being far better than looking empty to passersby.

Re trains: I was on a train to Essex that had "quiet" carriages, which I take to mean no mobile music or loud convos. No mention of food though Reminds me of when as kid we'd travel inter-city to Blackpool and eat mum's egg pancake sandwiches en route. I've no idea why the only time she ever made them was for our holiday journey, but they certainly ponged - like a signal to us kids to enforce that we were going on holiday

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Re trains: I was on a train to Essex that had "quiet" carriages, which I take to mean no mobile music or loud convos.

You don't get those on the Brighton/London route Jeral

Luxury.....!

[jeral Profile]

Yes, it was luxury. Not even that tinny hiss which escapes headphones that drives me mad even on a ten-minute bus journey - bliss.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I think this is an excellent thread! Well done, Sakks, for bringing it up ( excuse the pun.....)
The fact that many of us have different opinions on the subject simply reinforces the fact that many people, like it or not, eat alone on many occasions.
I remember many moments in Corporate Venezuela when I ate alone by choice; not because I wanted to be anti-social, but simply because I wanted time to THINK. Probably not about food - more likely because I had work issues which could not be resolved among the constant chatter of half a dozen colleagues.
And the second point, perhaps a little more tenuous, is that there might just be a moment when one wants to do a Greta Garbo and enjoy one´s food without interruptions. Who knows?