Why Won't You Sit With Us?

[dismichael]

Some people have bad hygiene and if the food is served family style I would rather not have them touch my food before me (I am a firm Purell believer)... Plus having strangers at your table inhibits your ability as a group to talk about personal issues openly, and sometimes creates an awkward atmosphere. Some people are just rude, too lol.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I just think that it is very SAD that 12% of the people who voted in this poll, will not share a table under any circumstances.

Glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full..I think its WONDERFUL that 45.38 % chose sit down stranger enjoy your meal

 

[TARAMEOW]

Here is what I think. If the place is empty I like having my own table, but if the place is full I have no problem having somebody sit and enjoy thier meal with us. It happend to me a couple years ago at Toy Story Pizza Planet. The place was packed and we were at a table for 4 and were only two, so another family joined our table, it was no problem and they were really nice

 

[Sammie]

If a place is very crowded and someone is trying to find a place to sit, most definitely.

 

[KS Dis Mom]

Come sit with us (we don't bite)!

We travel alot....especially my husband for business (sometimes we get to go along).

We love meeting new people! My husband loves to talk to taxi drivers to find out the locals favorite places to go. This helps us out when we are deciding where to eat and what attractions are worth our while.

 

[Snork]

I voted no. My reasons are that my wife and I are on vacation together. We both work retail which means there are times that we dont see each other for long periods except in passing. I don't want to share a table because I want to enjoy our time together before we join the real world again. If I was sharing a table with someone along with my wife I would not be spending my time with her as I want. I guess I am greedy.

 

[si-am]

I do not enjoy small talk, and therefore sharing a table with strangers is uncomfortable for me. It's a lot of work trying to think of something to say!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Some people have bad hygiene and if the food is served family style I would rather not have them touch my food before me (I am a firm Purell believer)...

Truly, I've never heard of a restaurant that serves food family-style AND seats strangers together. I don't think you'd have anything about which to be concerned. [/QUOTE]

Plus having strangers at your table inhibits your ability as a group to talk about personal issues openly, and sometimes creates an awkward atmosphere.

Given the proximity of tables to each other in most restaurants, especially at Walt Disney World, any restaurant might not be the best place to talk about personal issues.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Come sit with us (we don't bite)!

Are you sure? You don't pull bread out of the bread basket with your teeth or anything?

 

[kaytieeldr]

I do not enjoy small talk, and therefore sharing a table with strangers is uncomfortable for me.

Quoting the most recent poster to say this ONLY for convenience.

It's an interesting trait, and entirely understandable. But, wouldn't the best way to get over such a discomfort be to confront it in a nonconfrontational situation? I mean, food is a great distraction. Add in Walt Disney World and there's the potential for some great conversation. Someone uncomfortable with small talk could have a few questions ready just in case they found themselves thrown together with others for a period of time, from the standard, "Where are you from?", to "What would you recommend to someone visiting or moving to your area?" to ANY questions about their current trip.

 

[RachelTori]

Biergarten is one of my family's favorite restaurants. We LOVE sharing a table and have met some amazing people & had some of our most interesting dinner conversations there! Yes, there was one family of 5 who had a look of disgust when our family of 3 (DD is 16) was being seated with them, but by the end of the meal, everyone was having a good time! I'm not sure we converted them, but we tried!!

While I would never impose myself on other diners, we have invited people to share our table (cafeteria-style settings). When you see someone walking around carrying a tray looking for a table, how could you not invite them to join you?

 

[leebee]

We have never had a problem sharing a table at Biergarten. People are generally friendly, and we always have at least one common interest- WDW- to get/keep the conversation rolling! Everyone we've ever been seated with also has had the skill/courtesy to notice when we've wanted to be "alone" at the table, knowing when there's a time to chat and a time to mind one's own family and let us tend to our family. I think it's easy to share a table at Biergarten, as it's loud and boisterous, and having both food and entertainment to fill the time takes some of the stress off the social aspects of sharing a table with strangers.

DD16 and I will eat at Teppan Edo this August, for the very first time. While I am excited about the experience, I am also a little apprehensive, as we will be sharing a table, probably with a large party. Teppan Edo clearly doesn't have the noise/entertainment level of Biergarten to fill the time, and what if we end up with a "rude" group? I guess DD and I can be friendly/polite while still making our dinner experience what we want it to be. If worse comes to worst, we will at least have a story to tell!!

Random thought: Just because others share a table with you, do you have to be friendly and share the entire experience with them? To US citizens, sharing a table means sharing the experience of a meal. In Europe, do people share your table but ignore you as people? Not in a rude way... just that perhaps we are used to a bigger bubble of personal space, and if you share a table you are in our space so we include you (to some degree). If one is accustomed to a smaller/no personal space bubble, I can see how sharing a table wouldn't be an issue, as one wouldn't include the strangers at the table as part of your dining experience, and it wouldn't be rude to do so. (I guess I'll think of it as "the" table, not "our" table!)

 

[leebee]

Just been reading more of this thread (didn't get through the whole thing before posting) and I have to say, it makes me want to go to the Biergarten, grab a big mug of beer , and make some new friends

 

[HoneyPooh]

Quoting the most recent poster to say this ONLY for convenience.

It's an interesting trait, and entirely understandable. But, wouldn't the best way to get over such a discomfort be to confront it in a nonconfrontational situation? I mean, food is a great distraction. Add in Walt Disney World and there's the potential for some great conversation. Someone uncomfortable with small talk could have a few questions ready just in case they found themselves thrown together with others for a period of time, from the standard, "Where are you from?", to "What would you recommend to someone visiting or moving to your area?" to ANY questions about their current trip.

You should have gone back further, this one said she didnt't enjoy small talk, not that she was uncomfortable with it, lol. If you don't enjoy it there isn't anything to get over.

To the question, I have no problem sharing a table with someone. There is, however, a fine line between "I have no problem chatting away to strangers" and "I am driving the people sitting with me crazy with my blabbing". Just make sure if you're sitting with other people you aren't overdoing it. Unless of course you're running for office or something. Make sure you actually let them eat, BTDT and regretted asking them to have a seat.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You should have gone back further, this one said she didnt't enjoy small talk, not that she was uncomfortable with it, lol. If you don't enjoy it there isn't anything to get over.

Close enough. I posted that early, after sleeping poorly - and truly hope the OP understands I wasn't picking on her. I apologize for misunderstanding her specific statement and now apparently wasn't addressing her.

 

[Lou Holtz]

I find it hard to believe 45% of people really don't mind whether they have their own table or not. If a place was full and a couple was looking for a table, I'm sure I'd tell them they can use our's if it has extra chairs, but I also share the problem of HATING small talk. Seems less of an issue at Disneyworld, it's more of a problem with hating to make small talk with people I vaguely know in real life.

The thing I hate most is when a restaurant is empty and they sit me right next to the only other table. It's too quiet to say anything without the other table hearing you! Very uncomfortable!

 

[babyrich]

another post asked this too, in Germany where sharing a table is common, do you tend to speak to the others at the table? is it rude not too? My experience was that if the seat was empty you sat in it. It was not an invitation to "join" the group.

I posted that the reason we dont go to Biergarten is that my DH does not like to share a table. I'm fine with it; but I hate to feel that I have to engage in conversation just because I am sharing a table. I dont want to be rude; but I done want to hear of someone's life story or feel I have to be "entertained" by another family.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Well, not US, but people in general -- why is it people (Americans in particular) seem to hate sharing a table with others, as in Biergarten or other large table restaurants?

Why do YOU hate it?

I don't hate it, I like talking to new people, and we've never had a bad experience at Biergarten/Benihana or like restaurants. I don't know why the US (or people in general) has such hang ups about things like sharing a table. I think it's fun!

 

[pearlieq]

It's an interesting trait, and entirely understandable. But, wouldn't the best way to get over such a discomfort be to confront it in a nonconfrontational situation?

I can't answer for the poster you quotes, but for my own part, it's not a fear or inadequacy, it's a preference.

I don't enjoy liver. I've tried it. I know I don't like it. I don't need to "get over" my dislike of it. I need to avoid it.

The older I get, the less I want to mix. Or, the choosier I get about with whom I will spend my time/energy.

To me, small talk or making an effort to socialize with strangers is work. I can do it when called for, but it takes energy. I usually don't find the conversation to be enriching enough to have been worth the energy or attention. Meals are relatively long occasions--this isn't a 5 minute chat before we get on Soarin'. This is 30-60 minutes of keeping the conversation going.

Even if they're perfectly nice people, smiling and nodding and learning they're from Memphis usually doesn't add enough to my life to make it worth sacrificing a meal enjoying the company of my family, friends, or even the peace of my own thoughts.

 

[si-am]

I can't answer for the poster you quotes, but for my own part, it's not a fear or inadequacy, it's a preference.

I don't enjoy liver. I've tried it. I know I don't like it. I don't need to "get over" my dislike of it. I need to avoid it.

The older I get, the less I want to mix. Or, the choosier I get about with whom I will spend my time/energy.

To me, small talk or making an effort to socialize with strangers is work. I can do it when called for, but it takes energy. I usually don't find the conversation to be enriching enough to have been worth the energy or attention. Meals are relatively long occasions--this isn't a 5 minute chat before we get on Soarin'. This is 30-60 minutes of keeping the conversation going.

Even if they're perfectly nice people, smiling and nodding and learning they're from Memphis usually doesn't add enough to my life to make it worth sacrificing a meal enjoying the company of my family, friends, or even the peace of my own thoughts.

Yep, this is how I feel exactly.

Not everyone is an extrovert or even a chatty sort of person. I've always been quiet, always been more of a listener than a talker. That doesn't mean I *can't* talk, it means I'm just more comfortable not forcing myself to when I don't have really have anything I want to say.

I have friends and family who are quite the opposite-- they can and will strike up conversations with everyone! I'm just not that way.