Is eating alone in a restaurant now a big taboo?

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More people wear the John Lennon-type glasses than aviators.

I'm too old to look good in aviators.

As for me, I wouldn't judge somebody for wearing aviator frames----but many people find them really sort of passe.

It's almost like wearing a leisure suit.

Are you American? Forgive me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember you were considering moving (back?) to Europe?

Yes, I am American. Native San Franciscan.

I plan to move to Europe, within the next year or two, yes.

Well, good luck and best wishes to you

Given your other threads about being targeted for being a virgin and all that, I think you'll fare much better over here. My take: it would be best for you to go to cities (not small towns) in continental Europe. I'm speaking as someone who knew a couple of people in similar situations to yours who's lives changes dramatically after a change in scenery.

I have heard on TV plus personally in countries like Spain about how so-and-so is a loser because he is a virgin at 18 still. I am surprised that some in the younger generation are thinking similar to people here. What would they think of me, age 30...

Right now I am trying for Italy. I could try for many countries since I already know the language. But I also love eating alone there and being treated like an actual human being. Sometimes I feel like here it is hard to just get respect as a person, instead of like dirt on the bottom of someone's shoe.

Just don't advertise that you're a virgin----and you'll be okay.

Yeah, I hear you.

What I meant was, that the chances of actually being asked by a stranger if you're a virgin are going to be much lower. There's still some stigma, admittedly - but around here people would be open about sexual issues but still respect boundaries and (normally) won't ask you something like that.

That is true. I studied in the UK and never had anyone ask me about the virgin thing. In addition to eating alone in restaurants, I also used to eat alone in the university canteen and in the residence halls, yet no one really gave me hell for it.

Often I eat at places in the city centre here where I live. The restaurants usually are crowded, often with queues of people waiting to get a table. And many in the queue are couples. You should see their faces when I finally get my turn and ask, "table for one". Everyone behind in the queue looks at me. All those boyfriend/girlfriend couples often give me looks. I wonder what the hell they must be thinking about me.

I'm thinking of opening a new franchise of restaurants for single people who eat alone. So instead of tables, the dining hall will just have a bunch of sinks for people to hold their food over while they eat. Anyone wanna invest?

I was in California in September, and I had no such experience. I took a city bus from my hotel to a Mexican restaurant that served fish tacos. I ate there alone. The bus girls gave me a little bit of hassle, but it was for taking pictures out the windows, not being by myself. The waitress was super-friendly, and liked it I told her I knew Spanish, since her English wasn't good. Other than trying one of the best fish tacos, my dinner was totally uneventful. I slightly expected to be treated badly for eating dinner alone. But I wanted to eat an authentic California meal, rather than banal fast food near my hotel. None of it happened; other patrons pretty much ignored me. On the bus ride back, no one talked to me, either, other than the driver saying "good evening".

Do you recall what exactly you were doing that night? I can imagine people reacting strangely if you ate your food an unusual way, or ordered something most people don't eat, like crawfish or frog legs? (These foods are totally normal in New Orleans, but weird pretty much anywhere else.) I do wonder if age has anything to do with it, since older men, like me, often get ignored for things that younger men get scrutinized for.

I strongly recommend that you try a solo cruise. I'm pretty sure California has many cruise ports. I cruised solo 3 times already, and never had anyone react negatively. On my last cruise in particular, when one woman found out I was by myself, she reacted like I told her I drove a motorcycle or jumped out of airplanes. In other words, extremely well.

why pay them any mind?

Where in California were you? San Francisco and Los Angeles have their own separate cultures that are vastly different from everywhere else in California, and much more different than anywhere else in the country. I would say that San Francisco and Los Angeles are almost like separate countries relative to the rest of California. The difference is much starker than the difference between New York City and for example, upstate New York. You do one thing in San Francisco, something that I encounter a lot such as going around asking people about their sex lives and that you have not had a f*ck in a long time, and people will find it normal; you do this in Eureka, Fresno, San Diego, Monterey or South Lake Tahoe and people will think that you are insane. And vice versa, of course.

That night, like other nights, I was in an Italian restaurant. I ordered nothing out of the ordinary. Glass of white wine and seafood risotto. I was reading my language textbook whilst eating.

I would say though that the restaurant was Downtown, and most people Downtown are young. The restaurant was filled with people in their 20s and 30s, some in their 40s. But mostly people under 40, I would estimate. I find that many people in their 20s and 30s stare at me, and not in a good way. But in restaurants when I eat alone, the stares are a lot more in number and more intense.

Ignore them as it seems they are bored or have nothing better to do. Surprising they aren't all too busy texting on their phones to even talk to their wives or partners. I've seen images like that, where they're ignoring each other's existence as social media is more fascinating to them!

That’s precisely what they do in New York.

Could a part of the problem be that you were reading while you ate? That's bad manners (at least here.) Not that people don't ever do it here, but it should be avoided.

It’s not bad manners in New York. It’s considered normal for people to read at their tables in restaurants.