Blue Moon

This morning I woke up early and had a craving for breakfast from my favorite diner in Jupiter.


I have been ordering the same thing for breakfast since I was six (grits, eggs, bacon, and a biscuit). So, when I woke up this morning I couldn't get that delicious image out of my head. I made the decision and peeled myself out of bed, puts some pants on and threw my hair into a bun. I was out the door in ten minutes and in joyful anticipation of my favorite meal.

Sitting in the diner, in a booth all to myself (Yes people - I'm obviously still single), I didn't feel uncomfortable or alone at all. I had brought my favorite book with me and my notebook in case I got a whim to write. I had already placed my order and went about my business. I finally picked my head up out of my book (and by book I mean iPhone - I had every intention of reading OK) and looked around, I realized that my diner was filled with quite a few men eating alone and couple women having breakfast with a partner.

I was the only women sitting by myself, and based on the looks that my fellow breakfast connoisseurs were shooting me, everyone but me was painfully aware of it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, why is it socially acceptable for men of all ages to eat breakfast alone, but a single twenty-something woman cannot. Certainly not without feeling like the passive observers surrounding her are forming their own assumptions and judgements for her being alone. Did she get stood up? Are her eggs no longer viable (sarcasm - everyone chill)? Is she a bitch, and that's why no one wants to have breakfast?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe that a large piece to that puzzle is that women (as a generalization) are considerably more relational than men (also as a generalization). So, it's perfectly reasonable to intuit that a man sitting alone for a meal is perfectly content, if not, particularly pleased not to be required to hold a conversation for the time being.

On the other end of the spectrum, women live for conversation and relationship. For many women, the idea of sitting down and eating a meal alone is an unbearably lonely concept, for some, even a complete failure on their part.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to imply that I'm completely above all female related predispositions, but I do have a tendency to prefer my own bubble sometimes. I have often escaped friends, past boyfriends, and certainly my family in exchange for my own thoughts and conversations with myself.

So, breakfast alone is, on occasion, a relief for me. It's free from social requirements, conversations that I will undoubtedly have a list of 10+ things I said out of turn, and for a short window of time I don't have to put on whatever cleaned up version of myself that the other person prefers.

I'm not sure if that makes me more masculine or feminine. Either way, I have to admit that I certainly enjoyed being a little subversive this morning. Abiding by social norms is just a little too normal for me.