Reading Trent’s Weekly Smile I am reminded it is often the little things in life that brings us the greatest happiness.
On Sunday we went to one of our favourite restaurants in Lagos Marina for Sunday Roast.
For those not in the know, Sunday roast is typically British: Roast pork, beef or lamb served with three veg, a Yorkshire pudding and stuffing balls. Usual accompaniments include gavy, mint and/or horseradish sauce.
Anyway, I digress.
I rang the restaurant on Thursday to book a table for two (our friends were away on holiday). The helpful lady at the restaurant informed me that while all the tables for two were reserved if we were prepared to share with another couple we could have her last table for four. I thought about the idea for three seconds and immediately agreed. I am a sociable person by nature and it would give us the opportunity to meet new people.
Sunday came. We were first at the table.
The other couple arrived soon after. To break the ice I immediately introduced myself and husband and three hours later we were all still chatting and enjoying the company. In parting, it was a shame they were only here on holiday on not locals to the Algarve.
Have you ever shared a table with other diners and if so was it a positive experience?
Piglet in Portugal 
Hi Pip.
I must have had one of these experiences somewhere along the line, but what almost immediately came to mind was a time when I was backpacking with some friends from the Christian College I was attending at the time. We were a mixed gender group and kept everything clean and above reproach.
One of the things we were looking forward to was a visit to a fairly well-known mineral springs cave. When we got there we were tired, but anxious to get into our swim suits and crawl into the first small room of this cave.
It proved to be a room about 9×12 feet (3×4 meters) that had plenty of space to sit and enjoy the steamy hot water, lit only by the passage we just climbed through, so the room was fairly dark.
As we crawled in, we heard voices coming from within – ahh, others were already in the room, so new friends to meet – cool.
We got settled, met the other hikers who were out only for the day, so no backpacks for us to discover outside. They were friendly and we were having a grand time getting to know each other. Since they had arrived earlier, they had the best deeper seating, but finally one lady decided that she was plenty hot and wanted to cool off with a seat that was no so deep. A seat trade was quickly worked out and she stood to make the trade.
All eyes suddenly locked on her and her lovely birthday suit.
We were unsure how to proceed. Awkward – to say the least. Bathing naked with strangers was not on our agenda. What finally surfaced was an invitation for them to sing some songs with us and we quickly chose good-old church hymns – which they tolerated for a few minutes, but they pretty much decided that it was time to move on, so they left.
Our songs, thus proved to be a nice non-confrontational method of clearing the room with the only downside being the view of each one of them as they crawled out that first passage.
Okay, now that I’m distracted by this mental image – how am I supposed to get any work done?
Thanks for the smile Pip – I think.
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Gary, your story made me laugh aloud. What fun it would have been to be a fly on the wall and watch your faces! I can’t imagine bathing naked with strangers…ew. Well, not at my age.
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Hello again. I’m delighted to have delivered a good laugh to you today. I could easily get carried away with this, but if you liked that you would like however, I’ll limit myself to just one that everyone seems to be enjoying. It’s one of my most embarrassing moments and I call it: https://garyawilsonstories.wordpress.com/suffer-not-the-children/
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Gary, I bet your cheeks were the colour of Father Christmas’s suit when you appeared from under the dress. Excellent!
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Ha, not sure. What color is mortification ? This memory boulders on painful! Thanks for giving it a read. Oddly soothing. . .
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Oh I love this, Carole! It sounds like you had quite a smile this week with your couple “blind date”. Glad that it turned out so well. I don’t often meet people at dinner; however I do connect with many in my daily life. I’m curious and care about people — a good recipe for having meaningful conversation and developing friendships. One of them even became my coaching client! (I met them on a plane during my trip to NY)
Great post. Blessings to you, Carole.
Debbie
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We often share a table in a favourite restaurant where all the tables are fours. Like you we often end up talking to visitors to the town, it makes the lunch more enjoyable.
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And I bet they love sharing with a local, Brian. Lot’s of tips of where to go and eat and places to visit off the tourist trail 🙂
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Yeah, with the right other couple it can work. Glad you had a good time 🙂
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Thanks, Trent. Is this common in the US, Trent?
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No. Most restaurants would never do this. Where I see it is at “event” type restaurants, like an old fashioned “cowboy” dinner in Wyoming with a show following it. And I’ve seen it once or twice traveling abroad.
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I like this. I’ve not shared a table with strangers. However, in my younger years, I preferred to sit at the bar of a cafe/deli and would have passing conversation with whoever sat near me.
Sounds like your choice to sit with strangers turned out wonderfully. Good call. 😀
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We first came across this in a small restaurant in LAgos many years ago. I love people watching and chatting to people… now we have friends who would die a 1000 deaths rather tahn share or make polite conversation 🙂
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