[dpatrick86]

The beginning of an article showcases a photo of a man eating by himself and is captioned: "Not as sad as it looks."

Well, wapo, that depends. If the other two extra plates of food next to him are for imaginary friends it puts a totally different twist on things that might be sad after all.

[onion2k]

There's a thing called the Principle of Charity. Basically, if there's two ways to read something, try using the more charitable way, the way that's kinder and nicer, the way that doesn't assume the author is a moron. You'll find things are a lot simpler and less confrontational that way.

[l33tbro]

Hmm, well why not try applying that principle to dpatrick86? I see nothing in his comment that assumes the author is a moron.

[jstanley]

Perhaps onion2k could just be remarking that dpatrick86's comment is a good example, and in fact he isn't assuming that dpatrick86 is assuming that the author is a moron? :)

Ad infinitum.

[dpatrick86]

Consider me admonished!

I enjoyed the article and wouldn't want author to think I found fault with it. Maybe author would be amused that someone noticed the extra food at the table, and, in fact, intended it as an easter egg?

[exodust]

Nice observation, and funny!

For certain evening activities it should be obvious why in company is better than solo. These occasions become cherished chapter points where we reflect and share all kinds of information. We celebrate even the smallest milestones, any excuse for cheers.

I wonder how often solo activities cause valued nostalgic feelings later? I have a cherished memory of a hike in the mountains I did alone, but no great memories of solo dining-out adventures. So if we accept the objective is to get some work done on a laptop when dining alone, or travelling alone, then that's all good. But ordinarily non-work-related dining out and travelling would be best done with someone else.

To suggest we should do more things alone I couldn't generally agree with, (depending on the activity - visiting an art gallery is great to do alone.)