can be concerning sitting on your own

Crumbs! I often go to cafes and restaurants on my own especially when I'm away on business. There are lots of people doing just that so it's never crossed my mind. I find I get looked after really well!

I'm another who doesn't give a second thought to having a coffee or a meal on my own. I usually have a newspaper to read and relish the peace and quiet.

I wonder what has brought this on? Christmas is indeed a time when alone too easily becomes lonely and perhaps it is a reflection of Cath9's mood . It is so easy to think everyone else is having festive fun, all happy families, couples having coffee but this is not necessarily the reality.
Sitting in a Costa coffee/Starbucks/Waitrose or John Lewis coffee shop (enjoying my free cuppa) I am quite happy to be on my own. My Kindle or iPad provide me with reading matter (or there is always the DM?) but if you are feeling lonely Cath9, how about arranging to meet a girlfriend for a coffee and a Danish pastry?

If and when I am on my own, I have every intention of going out regularly for coffee or lunch, on my own if necessary.
Recently there was a news story of an elderly lady who had become stuck in her bathroom, rescued by cafe owners. They'd noticed that she had not been in for her daily coffee.

Now that J52 is really a good reason to have a regular coffee somewhere . There is a nice Austrian style cafe not far away from me . I must make a regular date

That is so sad, it just goes to show that what goes on in your head colours your life.
I hardly ever am on my own but when I am I enjoy it so never think that anyone is judging me. Just chill and wonder about everyone else instead.

But you're missing the point, PamelaJ1. If you're hardly ever on your own you're very lucky - it's not quite so easy to enjoy solitude if it isn't a choice...

I usually get chatting to someone when out and about, and usually end up with someone either giving me their number or them taking mine. The other day a young guy gave me his number for some coach trips he was running for disabled people. The time before that it was a guy who was walking dogs for a living.

Maybe it's me, but if I had to worry about what other people were thinking about then I wouldn't have the brain space to chat up these lovely men!

Thanks all,
I will say that today I went to Morrisons where I often get a bite to eat and really enjoyed being pn my own there. Also the stafff know me by now, coming up with what I had ordered saying:
I expected this would be for you!'
So it may have just been that one day, being in such a small place with people of my own age sitting next to me.

Friends who are widowed mention that now the world seems full of couples, waking arm in arm or enjoying a chat over a cup of coffee. In the same way, soon after my mother died everywhere I went all I saw were mothers and daughters happily walking arm in arm. In those situations it's hard not to greatly miss what we once had and long for it once again. That sense of aloneness can be very acute and it's hard to believe everyone around doesn't notice it. I wonder if that's what you're experiencing cath

I am quite comfortable doing things on my own and would never give a thought to why someone is sitting in a café not as part of a couple . People just tend to be getting on with their own lives and thoughts to really notice (or care) why I am on my own . The only place I would not go to alone is the pub ! but no where else is off limits .

Yes grannyqueenie I experienced similar when my husband left. Everywhere I went there were couples walking arm in arm - unfortunately one day it was him and his bit of fancy!

I'm out and about a lot on my own and can honestly say that
such a thought has never entered my head. Lots of other thoughts maybe, not all of them happy ones, but never that.

swanny hope you managed to sweep past them looking, even if not feeling, cool as a cucumber !!

If there is a Morrison's near you Cath9 the set up there is perfect for any time of day and, because of the price, usually pretty busy. I have been encouraging my DH to go there a lot on his own as I am trying to build his confidence up after hospitalisation which has left him with mobility problems.

Thanks for the flowers grannyqueenie, that was kind. I'm afraid on the occasion I spoke of, I was in bits and hid in a doorway! However that made me angry - why should I hide? From that day on I managed to hold my head high again and projected a much more confident, capable image!!

Ouch, * swanny* that wouldn't be easy but glad it spurred you on to greater things x

You should never worry about what other people think. I have been a widow for quite a long time. When I go for a coffee I just tend to sit by a window and people watch.It has never entered my head that people may think I am some lonely old soul,they have their own lives to think about.