"Eating and reading is almost (if not more) enjoyable in restaurants than it is at home – thank god for restaurant bars, and tables for one. Who hasn't, on occasion, while stuck at a table with someone you had nothing to say to, gazed with envy at the guy sitting alone at a restaurant bar, happily stuffing his face and getting sauce on his new issue of The Economist?
Some restaurants are better - in terms of reading and the solo eater - than others. I'll never forget the time, back in the mid-90s, when I was traveling for a story and ate dinner alone at a good, small restaurant in Savannah, Ga.
I don't remember what I ordered. But I do recall that the headwaiter, when he saw I was by myself, brought over a tray of magazines - The New Yorker, Business Week, The Atlantic Monthly - and asked if I'd like to read one while I ate.
Yes, I said. Yes, I would.
I've never seen this act of grace and kindness repeated in any other restaurant - although these days I'm not foolish enough to enter one alone without something to read."
One of the comments reads:
"Same for me. Eating alone is not a sufficient occupation. Many a time did I fall asleep at my mother's breast, I'm told, simply because I hadn't learned how to read yet.
And yes, I, too, sometimes read while walking.
Posted by David Marjanović at September 13"
