Please … I need my space

I’ve written before about some of the advantages of staying at home (which I, for one, am happy to do) during the pandemic, and it recently occurred to me there is another reason to be optimistic about potential changes in personal habits: hopefully the global public health crisis of covid-19 will cure certain people from doing a specific practice that has been a big pet peeve of mine for many years.

The people and the practice I am referring to is restaurant hosts/wait staff and the way they arrange patrons in the establishment. Let’s say, for example, my son (or a date, or friends of mine) and I go into an eatery and there are, like, four other people in the place, maybe two couples. Which means there are probably several open tables and/or booths, am I right? Anyway, there have been numerous times I’ve been in the situation, where the host/wait person will put my people and me right next to the two or four other people in the restaurant!! Seriously??? The logic for why they do this is beyond my comprehension. Is it to save their steps? As I was a waitress 100 years ago when I was young, I can sympathize with sore feet. But still ….

Even with all those other seats open, apparently restaurant workers assume that all their customers WANT to be in near proximity to the other customers. I guess they believe— sometimes very incorrectly — that we all want to flock together. I’m here to tell you this is wrong:

“We don’t all want to flock together. Some of us would prefer to stand out and not go with the crowd. I am one…