A World Built for Two

Each summer, I enjpy going to a winery for a drink and to listen to live music, and as summer approached this year, I highly anticipated returning. As I apprached the crowded patio, I seen once again finding a seat would be a challenge. Navigating through the crowd, I noticed an empty picnic table in the back and happily occupied it. It gave me thevantage point of watching the crowd as well as the band.All the seating was designed for groups, whether they were picnic tables or tables with multiple chairs with them. No seats just set for us loners, and I can understand that people arrice in groups or couples, so they have to be accomodated. However, for the occasional loner who shows up, it can be a bit embarrassing. One, you feel a little guilty taking up a whole table yourself when new people arrive and looking for seats. The other you feel like people are wondering why are you there alone, like you don't have friends and are out there drifting aimlessly. Sometimes you feel someone might take pity on you and invite you over, and then possibly be seen as a charity case who needs friends or an interloper of the group. Life is about being with people, I suppose, but some of us, by choice or other circumstances, are cast as loners through this journey. I like to think if I had my own venue, I would place single chairs about as a way to say to everyone, alone or in a group, that you are welcome, and be not embarassed.