"Or Like in Europe Where Folks Share Tables to Save Space"
 

Chris Mathews to me is a mealy-mouthed loud mouth who yesterday when talking about having to sit with his teen-age daughter at a restaurant table would try to ignore him like she wasn't with him and he said "Like in Europe where folks share tables to save space:.

??? Duh what is that statement based on - I have never had to share tables with strangers in any European restaurant or even cafe - have you or is this as usual just Chris blowing hot air based on some silly misconception?

I see little difference in this regard between the U.S. and Europe - or am I wrong?

Pal - i have shared a table on quite a few occasions with strangers, and not just in Europe. for example in B&Bs it's a trend [which I quite like] to put all the guests together at the same table at breakfast. We have come across this in places as diverse as Yorkshire, New Zealand and Brittany.

we often share tables in cafes, pubs, and bistros, where one may, or not, converse with ones neighbours. I have also come across it in an ancient pub in Prague where we shared a long table with a couple from Moscow - he was revisiting his old "iron curtain" haunts with his wife who wouldn't fly so they had spent 30 hours on the train to get there. [We were convinced he was ex KGB but didn't dare ask!]

Also there is a tradition of sharing tables at lawyers' dinners - where at the beginning of the meal you may or may not know the people sitting next to you; you will certainly know them by the end.

BTW, the better class of guest house [not of the type where guests were required to absent themselves from the premises between breakfast time and supper] used to advertise "Separate tables" to show that they were a cut above the rest. Presumably that's where Alan Ayckbourn got the name of his play from.

We have done this a lot in Germany and it is the norm there. Best times ever shared with one couple. My husband and the other man kept buying each other shots, it ended bad but they were so funny. Huge hangover next day. They spoke great English but have had great times in the beer halls with other people at the tables. We always manage to communicate. In Ireland we have done this when the pub is crowded and it has always been fun. Nothing in France or UK but Germany it has happened often.

Well pubs and B&Bs yes here too but I guess restaurants are not my forte as I inevitably avoid them at all costs so Chris was right-on after all, for once!

so it is indeed different than the privacy-possessed U.S. restaurants? And I kind of like that to tell you the truth.

I guess it must vary by country as to how common this is. I do think in Europe, tables in restaurants tend to be a lot closer together than in many American restaurants. Not always, of course, and some American restaurants also are tightly packed, but more.

I've had people share tables with me because there was no free space in some places in France, but it was more a cafe or cafeteria type place. It wasn't to save space but because there wasn't any free space.

I think you obviously just don't like him, that comment wasn't that crazy or offensive.

glad to have added to your education, Pal.

I've shared tables a number of times, mostly in Germany. I'll never forget the German woman who told us that she and her family would have starved after WWII if America hadn't sent foo.

edikation! edifikation! however...thanks.

silly. how about the fabulous Clyde Common Restaurant in Portland? Long, fab tables to share.

just took amtrak and one MUST share a dining car table... it's the rule... and led to the most wonderful interactions. There's a book there... such a variety of reasons people travel from point A to point B.

It all depends on the size of the table.

mealy-mouthed loud mouth

Usually these terms are mutually exclusive. But if you do not like someone then any combination of words and phrases are acceptable.

It all depends on the size of the table.>

In America it may depend on the size of the persons to boot in this obesity-prone land. Indeed some may need a table all to themselves!

This is true, when I went to Stretchpants, OK on business, it was the only time in my life someone called me slim.

In 2008, after an 8 hr drive on a timeline to get to Vienna to see an opera, we stopped in a town in Bavaria for an overnight; the Fruhlinfest (spring festival) was in progress and we shared a table in the beer tent with a young couple who at that time were dating. They are now married with 2 children, we have had many trips to each others homes, ours in Canada, theirs in Bavaria. Last month we spent 3 days together hiking in the Dolomites, kids and all. I leap at the opportunity to share a table in Europe and make new friends, it isn't always wonderful but makes a meal an adventure

I've often shared tables in Germany and Switzerland. It's a great way to meet people.

Come to think of it, I've shared tables in Australia and New Zealand too.

In most cases you will get your own table in europe - definitely in better restaurants. But in beer halls, cafes, pubs, etc if the place is crowded they will often ask different groups of people to share larger tables - for 8 or 12 people.

So he's not wrong - but it's certainly not the rule.

I don't usually ask to sit with a stranger unless I absolutely must, but that's because I don't really like talking with strangers.

If someone wants to share a table with me it's ok, as long as they don't expect us to become close friends.

While at outdoor cafes in Europe, I have frequently had people claim the extra chairs at my table, and they have rarely asked my permission before doing so. I've even had people "assure" me that I would rather have their company than be alone. (An assumption that has often been mistaken: No matter how fascinating they might be, there are times when I honestly prefer to be alone.)

The worst such experience was during my first trip to Europe. A German-speaking couple who decided to claim the extra seats at my table didn't realize that I could understand German -- no reason they should, as we weren't in Germany and they hadn't heard me speak in German. I heard them agreeing that I must be a rich American (I am American, but was traveling on such a short shoestring that it nearly broke on that trip!). I then heard them say that they should knock the table over on a way that would spill beer on themselves and then insist that I pay for their beers, their dry cleaning, etc. I had already payed, so I carefully stepped away -- and heard the table topple as I turned the corner. It was a thankfully rare memory of an unpleasant interpersonal interchange.

I was also asked (read "forced") to share a table a few times when I was in St. Petersburg in 1994, but as I learned later, that was because at the time, the only other women who would have tried to dine alone would have been clearly identifying themselves as prostitutes. OMG !!!

I have been at small B&Bs in various parts of the world where only one breakfast table is available. Other than VERY small B&Bs, I have not encountered expectations for sharing a table in the U.S.

Not counting Biergartens, I've been seated with others before in crowded restaurants. No horror stories though.

There is at least one restaurant in New York's Chinatown that will seat you at a communal table.