Learning a lesson from a lone diner

Regarding “Table for One? Not a Bad Date” (Traveler’s Journal, May 23): I witnessed a tour de force in the art of dining alone in Salzburg, Austria, at the Hotel Goldener Hirsch many years ago.

An elegantly dressed woman entered alone. All the seating against the walls was taken, and all the tables in the middle of the room were empty. The maitre d’ seated her at a table, dead center. All eyes were upon her. We wondered how she would handle what in those days was considered an embarrassing and intimidating situation. We needn’t have worried.

She made eye contact with each patron in the room, in sequence, table by table until every one of us was embarrassed to have been staring and averted our gaze. Now and then, when we did take a surreptitious glance, we saw that she was confident and relaxed while enjoying her dinner.

What a performance. And what a lesson.

James Bonorris

Los Angeles