TABLE FOR ONE PART TWO

LIVING ALONE IS AS MUCH AN ART AS IT IS A PRIVILEGE. I HAVE SAID THIS MANY TIMES BEFORE: HAVING FRIENDS, LOVERS AND FAMILY IS A BLESSING. BUT NO MATTER WHO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WE ALL LIVE ALONE INSIDE OURSELVES AT THE END OF THE DAY. SO WE HAVE TO BE HAPPY WITH OURSELVES. YOU CAN'T MAKE SOMEONE ELSE HAPPY AND ONE OF THE MOST ENORMOUS LIFE MISTAKES YOU CAN MAKE IS TO THINK SOMEONE ELSE CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY.

So, this week, I took myself to dinner at Ruth’s Chris. By the time I had finished my rapsberry Cosmo and surveyed the room, I realized I was surrounded by couples. Well, there might have been a nano-second of self-consciousness. Until I realized I was probably the luckiest woman in the place. Dinner was wonderful, leisurely and interesting. I had my phone, the internet, and a folded up NYT crossword for company. My waitress was friendly but unobtrusive. I didn’t have to worry about whether I ordered too much or too little, or whether my “date” was in a bad or stingy mood. I could let my brain relax. I was my own date. (I’m a really good date). One by one, the tables around me dispersed. The couple behind me had a hard time producing a credit card that worked. At another table, the woman got tipsy and cried while her husband/date berated her and told her he couldn’t afford a $300 dinner! The couple behind me was celebrating her birthday but when they passed my table on the way out, she looked like she was marching to Bataan. The only other table that appeared to be having as much fun as I was included a little old lady telling really dirty jokes. A few taps on my phone and an Uber materialized outside. How perfect was that. In fact, I intend to have a regular mid-week date night with myself. It was a nice treat in the middle of a hard week and gave me the impetus to get through to the weekend. Look, there is nothing wrong with being alone. Just don’t be lonely. That’s all in your head, after all.