Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Dining alone
One of my joys in life is dining alone. I know that may seem strange to some people but it really is an activity I cherish. When our children were little and I was home with them during the week, my husband would take care of them on one or the other weekend morning so I could go to breakfast with a book or the daily newspaper. I've made note of (and usually vowed never to return to) restaurants where the host or hostess queries me with "just one?" sounding like code for "poor leper you, I guess no-one want to spend time with you." And I've made note of (and deliberately returned to) those where the hostess or host smiles and simply asks "one?" as if 1 is a quantity just like any other. One person's money is every bit as money from several, isn't it? And how I've loved traveling and dining alone - in Hong Kong, Paris, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt, San Francisco, . . . It's great fun to test culinary waters without worrying about what friends think or how they interact with the staff, much more fun and more reliable to have only myself as company in these situations. So imagine my joy today to see an article in the Guardian in which one of their restaurant critics waxes enthusiastic about dining alone! Not just accepting it but actually enthused (like me!). I am reminded of Merleau-Ponty's essay on the difference between (a) being alone (the fact) and (b) being lonely (the sadness) and (c) being solitary (the joy). It's well worth pondering.
P.S. Dustbury wrote a post on June 1st as a result of this post. I am delighted to have provoked his thoughts. Even more, I am fascinated by the many and somewhat lengthy comments it elicited, although of course I am mildly miffed that they were left at his place instead of mine. I guess expressing pleasure in something doesn't make people want to add their two or three cents as much as expressing displeasure and/or dyspepsia.
P.S. Dustbury wrote a post on June 1st as a result of this post. I am delighted to have provoked his thoughts. Even more, I am fascinated by the many and somewhat lengthy comments it elicited, although of course I am mildly miffed that they were left at his place instead of mine. I guess expressing pleasure in something doesn't make people want to add their two or three cents as much as expressing displeasure and/or dyspepsia.
< home >