37 m. ago
'Don't you have friends to go with?': the stigma and joy of a table for one | Emma Gannon
Solo dining is a sign of unhappiness, a new report claims. I’ll tell you why I think that’s nonsense – but please don’t pull up a chairI once told a colleague that I was going to Amsterdam on a solo trip to wine and dine alone. “Do you not have any friends to go with?” she replied. She was joking, but I think she also meant it. Her comment was tinged with pity. Why would you choose to eat a three-course meal with a good view or order room service in a nice hotel on your own? What’s the point? Wouldn’t you want to share that with someone?Eating alone often gets a bad rap. It’s getting an even worse rap now that the World Happiness Report moved Americans down the ranking in part because they are, apparently, eating alone too much. The picture doesn’t look good: too many people have no one to eat with, they lack community, and are clearly rather isolated and lonely. Community is incredibly important – especially now, when the world feels increasingly unstable and unpredictable. We all ...
Politics
