Seat Selection Etiquette

I just returned from having lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant a couple blocks from my house -- pho nam and a side of egg rolls for those curious -- and since it was an off-time, the place was virtually empty. There was one guy dining by himself when I walked in so I, naturally, sat on the other side of the restaurant. There's no need to crowd.

So imagine my surprise when this older, bearded, and slightly disheveled guy walks in 5 minutes later and sits at the table next to mine alongside the window. Not really a problem, but he sat down on the side facing me. There were 15 tables in the restaurant and he sits down in a chair that essentially forces him to stare at me from 5 feet away while I eat. This is just rude. And a bit weird. This is like two guys walking into a restaurant and sitting side-by-side at a table (not that there's anything wrong with that). Or like talking to a stranger at the adjacent urinal when there's an entire row of vacant ones nearby (definitely something wrong with this). Can't we just spread out and let people enjoy their solitude?

But lunch, as always at this place, was excellent. And since I was out, I stopped at the nearby coffee shop for my drug of choice -- the venti americano. Which reminds me; babe, if you're reading this, I had to use the left over milk from my cereal bowl in my coffee this morning. Can you please pick some up on the way home? Thanks. Love ya.

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