Solo Dinners and everything else

I've been away.

Though, it's not intentional. I have been going out, in small groups, or accompanied by friends so I really had nothing to report on the solo front.

I've also been doing a lot of solo dinners. Every Saturday, out of a dearth of what to do to occupy my evening, I think what else can I do? I don't feel like going clubbing, and I would hate to stay home yet again - my DVD player is overheated - the only thought that immediately comes to mind is, "Let's go to dinner in a nice restaurant." After that anything else can happen. I also got a few restaurant coupons in the mail (why wouldn't I when I patronize them so much?) which I aim to use to cut down costs. A girl has to stay cost-savvy in some way. 

These dinners have been okay. There haven't been too many of them that have yielded accurate results for me to advice my other singles that this is the perfect thing to do on a Saturday night. It's a hit or miss thing. Dinners mainly work for me because I am a big Foodie. If the company is not great, at least the food will be and hopefully, make up for my horrid cooking. So I am very careful in choosing the restaurant. I also choose the restaurant based on the type of events that occur there. Do they have live music? Do they have attentive wait staff? Do they have ample seating at the bar? Is it a "hot" spot for singles, i.e., active bar scene? All very important questions that should be tackled. Or mainly, is the food just so melt in your mouth divine that the absence or presence of any of these factors doesn't really matter?

Most nights, if you're lucky you get to sit with another single diner (of the friendly kind) and you chat up a conversation about the food, types of food you enjoy, places you enjoy eating, being seen, etc. This is on a good night. You end up not eating alone but inevitably eating with company which beats sitting in front of the TV  and mumbling to yourself (or is that just me).

This used to be the case before the economy happened and the rest of the population decided to either indulge in take-home dinners or get coupled up as a cost-effective means of dating. Because this has become a rare occurrence, eating alone takes a whole lot of gumption. A whole lot. It's almost near impossible and gives you a very uncomfortable feeling. I find it hard to do sometimes and I am supposed to be the solo savvy one. People stare at you and wonder, "Why is she eating by herself?" The servers carefully avoid you, just offer you more food or drink and walk away. You can virtually hear other diners talking about you. The stage is set and you're the solo performer. Very uncomfortable.

At this point, you wish anyone would come in and chat you up just so it shifts the focus away from you. My advice to counteract this is simply talk to anyone. Anyone, any fly that just brushes past you, talk to them, about anything on this earth. If they stare at your food, ask them a question, "Have you ordered?" "Your drink looks yummy, what is that?" The couple next to you, speak to them, "Oh, wow, the music is so loud." Say Anything At All. Otherwise, you're in for a very long evening.

And after you've survived the dinner, (thank God!) then, you can decide what to do next because face it you just endured a meal alone, anything else can be easily conquered. It will. For me, I usually go dancing, to work off some of the food. Somewhere that lets me walk around, move around and does not put me on center stage. Whatever I decide I know that it cannot be as bad (or as good depending on how dinner went) as dinner alone. Dinner alone just gave me wings that I plan to use.