And I'm always optimistic about the meal to come, even when I know I shouldn't be.

I think this must be one of the things we love about you, EL.

When I'm on the road and alone, I will often carry the AAA Guide with me. It almost never fails to result in suggestions about what's really good from waitstaff and from locals. I make a point of putting it away as soon as the food comes, just to let them know I'm not going hog the table for hours. On the other hand, if the check is slow to come, out it comes again.

When I eat alone, I decide who the other patrons are....

You know, like the guy that you can't hear, but it's obvious from his expressions that he's lying like a rug......

The pair where the one is trying to sell the other something even though everything about him/her says "NO".

The couple where she's secretly oisoning him (probably because he talks with his mouth full)....

Eve has a much better imagination than I do! But I do imagine that Lady Elizabeth is always thinking about the Sandbox and what we are up to--right?

Depends. If I'm fueling, I read. If I'm eating somewhere with real food, I watch, pay attention to the food, the surroundings, etc. If it is in between, I'll read when there is no food on the table.

On a couple of occasions, when I've been eating alone, I've been invited to join couples or small groups for dessert. Usually I accept, and have a pleasant bit of small chat. I consider that kind of thing a mitzvah.

If you busy yourself with stuff like reading old text messages in your phone, it fills the time from being busy with menu to being busy with food. It also grants you a golden opportunity to eavesdrop on all of the diners in the area. Especially the really loud ones who obviously want you to listen to them or they wouldn't be speaking so loudly in a public place. Baltimore, being the small town it is; affords one much infomation in a solo dining adventure.

I usually have the wonderphone out (silent mode), to surf the web, catch up on email. It's good cover, too, if there are any interesting people watching opportunities. People don't behave the same if they think you're watching/listening, so one must look busy.

My fiction writing professor in college had the class eavesdrop on people in various situations and take meticulous notes so that we could learn to write dialogue in a realistic way. One assignment was to hide in a bathroom stall. Others were restaurants, public transportation, etc. It was great fun.

I usually like talking to the bartender. If that is not an option, I end up talking to myself in my head, which takes me in strange directions; sometimes when I do that, by the time the food arrives, I'm asking what is that? where am i?

When I was still working I would travel on business, usually alone. I, too, find it interesting to observe my fellow diners. Depending on the bar or restaurant, this can be both interesting and educational. In one bar I frequented many years ago I watched as a waitress with a full tray of empty glasses struggled through the crowd back to the kitchen. When she dropped one of them someone yelled out "Why don't you just drop them all?" Which she proceeded to do, one at a time. It was that sort of place.

I usually sit at the bar when I eat alone. There's a greater variety of mindless options for distraction there -- the tv, other bartender/patrons (I'm cell phone-less so texting people or web surfing is not an option.) And if I want to read a newspaper or a magazine, it is a more comfortable/less formal place to do this.

Oh, Evan--I thought I was the last person in this country without a cell phone!