don't knock it till you try it: going to a restaurant alone

Last week I traveled to Regina, Saskatchewan for a work-related trip. One of things I hate most about business trips is all the enforced merriment with coworkers, including the dreaded group dinners. These aren't horrible by definition, but I just hate the way it always goes--the meeting wraps up around 5:15, and whoever is facilitating says, "Okay, then, let's all walk back to the hotel, drop off our laptops and meet in the lobby at 5:45. We've got a reservation for six-o-clock sharp!" 

But we had a giant lunch at 1:00--doesn't anyone else want to think about something other than food for an hour or so? Doesn't anyone want to go for a walk, or make a phone call, or just not see the other meeting participants for at least half an hour? I guess my introverted, reclusive nature is to blame here, and not my energetic, positive coworkers, but I will still complain bitterly. 

So on this last trip, although there were at least two group dinners, I managed to legitimately excuse myself from both. One evening I went out with a coworker unrelated to the business trip, and we had lots of food and wine and gossiped about work-related things and it wasn't nerve-wracking at all. The other nights, I somehow managed to go out by myself. 

When I tell people about doing things alone, they often look at me with pity, as if I can't find anyone to accompany me. Maybe this is actually the case, but I don't really care--I like going out by myself. Granted, sometimes it sucks--there's nothing like going alone to an all-ages rock show at the age of 16 when the band you came to see doesn't play for four hours and all you have to occupy the time is drink soda and maybe play some Ms. Pacman.    

But in general, I like to go out alone. One of the nights I waited until a little after 8:00 (two hours after my coworkers had dinner!) to go out and look for a restaurant. I found a bar/restaurant that specialized in beer. I'm not that crazy about beer, but it seemed like a good place to go alone--there probably wouldn't be a bunch of starry-eyed couples looking over at me and wondering if I'd been stood up by my Internet date or something.

I ordered some food, and some beer, and my waiter was very nice and charming but not in a smarmy way. There were other single people there, but they were all dudes. I think a single woman in a restaurant or bar is often an anomaly. This can be a bad thing--everyone assumes you're a harlot and you get lots of unwanted attention--or it can be a good thing, and your waiter comps you a beer and invites you to join him and the rest of the waitstaff later that night at the Irish bar down the block.