Why the Phobia of Eating Alone?

[clairobscur]

@wheresgeorge04

Same reason people don’t go to movies alone. I do, but most people don’t seem to like it…

Joe

I don’t know if it’s the same reason, because I’ve no problem dining out alone (and actually do this pretty often) but I don’t like to go to movies (or for that matter to any kind of show : concert, theatre, etc…) alone. Not because I’m afraid people will think I’m a loser but because (I think…actually not sure) I feel frustrated if I enjoy a show and there’s nobody else to share the experience.

[Bosstone]

@GorillaMan

Edit: there is a drawback - there’s nobody to look after your things when you go to the toilet. So if you’ve got a jacket on the back of the chair, or a bag or anything else with you, you look like you’re leaving every time you’ve got a full bladder.

When I eat alone, I try to go in the off-hours, which helps with this problem. Since the servers aren’t nearly as busy, and there’s fewer people around, I trust that someone going up and snagging my stuff is going to be noticed pretty easily by others. Perhaps that’s being a little too trusting, but in either case I never leave something I can’t afford to lose behind, although I try to leave something to show I’m not just taking off.

[Bites_When_Provoked]

I figure it’s probably the people who make judgement calls about people who eat alone, who are afraid of eating alone.

Personally, I don’t notice whether people are eating alone, and it doesn’t bother me in the least to be eating alone.

I’m mildly disconcerted to find out that it may make people think I’m a total loser though… I mean, they should at least have to get close enough to talk to me before they can know for sure!

[gaffa]

The older I’ve gotten, the less I’ve cared about the opinion of random strangers.

I enjoy both eating alone and going to the movies alone. My wife is pretty much the only person I enjoy seeing a movie with because we both like to sit in the same place and we both know the rules. I’ve watched literally hundreds of films with her, and have never found anyone as compatible. But she likes some films that I don’t enjoy, and I like some stuff she doesn’t enjoy. That, and I travel a lot.

I love my brother, but he is as extroverted and gregarious as I am not…and is constitutionally incapable of just sitting there and watching the movie.

And I need a book or magazine when eating. The New Yorker is a great choice, and by having meals available, I can finish every issue (other than the fiction). I can fold it over and lay it open on the table, so I don’t have to hold anything in my hand.