Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for December 23, 2018

Pig should have gotten take out (take away for you Brits).

So he finally dumped Pigita? It’s about time!

It would have been worth it to take a date just to get a chair.

There is nothing better to eat alone without nobody who chatter in your ears about nothing

I bet Ziggy can relate (except I think he doesn’t get that same kind of treatment from the waitstaff when he goes fine dining).

I have been to places like that.

The advantage to eating alone is that it’s easier to snoop on other peoples’ conversation.

“Well I was going to have the lobster, but now I think I’ll take my business somewhere else”

The guy on the bucket would like to see you run over by a herd of buffalo.

We ate at Olive Garden this evening. Two of us, seated at a table for four. What message does that send?

That’s why I usually just seat myself at the bar and eat there. And if they’re too fancy to have a bar to eat at, they’re too fancy for me.

Just get delivery. It’s still brought to you and you only have to dress nice enough to open a door. So sweatpants and a tee is more than acceptable.

“Do I get the scarlet letter, or does that cost extra?”

Yes, Pig, it is hard to be single. :o(

Singled out for scorn.

What a weird waiter. If you chase away customers you have no business :-)

Who is the Dumper & who is the Dumpee?

Rat, would’ve thrown the bucket at this jerk’s skull

In Manhattan, they usually don’t bat an eye if you’re eating alone. But if you do get the “Just one?” attitude, don’t go back.

Cheer up, Stephan! At least now you can order the GOOD Scotch!

I need a sad button.

When I was quite young, me da went on a business trip to Wyoming (took the stagecoach, as I recall). He told us many of the restaurants had a “Maverick Table” for all the singles to sit together.

Harder to be single while travelling. In the sense that you have to pay what they call a ‘single supplement ‘ when booking. To the toon at hand, Pig doesn’t get a menu, he gets a ‘bucket list’.

I’ll never understand why people make a big deal out of someone going out to eat by themself. I’ve been doing it frequently for decades. I’ve never run into a situation like this.

I have a “bucket list” joke, but will refrain because it would be disrespectful to this cartoonist’s fine work to associate it with such low class humor as a pun.

Hope Pig has his bucket list handy.

When I was single, I never had a problem with dining by myself. Of course, if it was often a result of being stood up in a blind date situation but that’s a different story for another day.

Having been unmarried for most of my adult life (until I was 54) I often went out by myself to eat. I never ran into a situation like this. The only thing that really ever bothered me was friends and family who believed that I was somehow not complete as a bachelor and secretly yearning to be married. The woman I married is not one of those chosen to complete me by well-meaning but completely ineffectual matchmakers.

I hope that wasn’t Mr. Creosote’s bucket!

Pig should have seen if Mrs. Bootyworth was available for dinner….

I guess I don’t eat out enough for this to resonate.

Where’d the table go?

Has Pig inadvertently wandered into the Café Boeuf?

I wonder if Pastis has seen “The Lonely Guy”(1984) with Steve Martin. There is a restaurant scene in that movie very similar to this.

Went to dinner alone the other day Stephan?

Love this comic……the gators especially….if you need food for your mind, get a helping of Pastis Salad

I am single and I travel extensively, business and personal. 90 percent of the time at restaurants I get “Just one?” in a snarky tone from the host/hostess. I resist the urge to congratulate them on their ability to count to one. Instead, I reply by smiling and asking in an innocent tone if single diners are not welcome. If I don’t get an apology, I add that if that is their policy, I can go elsewhere and perhaps the manager could step over and suggest some other restaurant. If it happens more than once, which it usually does at hotel restaurants, I make sure the restaurant and hotel managers are made aware. That makes me feel better, but in the long run, it doesn’t change their attitude. I also refuse to let them seat me at the worst table as they usually try with female customers. And when I get bad service, I leave a bad tip but make sure they know why. When I get good service, I leave a very good cash tip and make sure they know why.

“The guy on the bucket would like a different waiter, thanks!”

I saw what was coming at panel 1. Perals has done this joke before.

I traveled quite a bit when I was working and upscale restaurants did not like sitting single young women back then. I guess they thought we were all on the prowl instead of actually being (GASP!) professional women. Frequently they would overlook you to seat the group behind you, to which I would speak up and say “excuse me, I do believe I was next in line.” forcing them to seat me. I do remember one such restaurant but the waiter was superb. I asked to speak to the manager so I could compliment him. I was unaware that the previous table he had were a bunch of whiny-a$$es that gave him a horrible time. The courtesy he showed me was even more impressive considering the jerks he had previously. He received a very generous tip, I doubled the ticket.

What would the guy on the bucket like? If it were me, the manager. No excuse for that kind of treatment, yet too many in the service industry are allowed to get away with it.

If I’m Pig, I go on Yelp and leave an unfavorable review of that restaurant.

I’m single, and would often eat in restaurants during my working days. This strip is right on the mark! Sadly.

I rarely eat at a sit-down restaurant. I’m too self conscious about being there by myself.

For some reason, if I go to eat by myself at Ihop, they stick me in a booth intended for 4 people when there’s plenty of single ones open.

If a restaurant is too pretentious and snobby to treat a lone customer with respect then they are not worth eating at. I’m afraid I would tell them off in no uncertain terms. My money is just as good as all the groups of customers. I think this type of condescending, petty treatment of restaurant customers mostly only happens in the United States.

State Farm ad popped out and blocked the last panel!! grrrrr

Is this really a thing? I’ve often eaten by myself at restaurants pretty well all my life (I’m 66) and never once had the feeling that they were treating me any different from other people. I keep seeing this as a comedy trope (or sometimes a serious “social issue”) but not experienced anything that I could say resembles it in my own life.

I’ve always lived in central Ontario, so maybe it’s different here, but I really can’t imagine that it’s all THAT different.