Originally Posted by
Proudelitist
I remember once being solo and going into a Red Lobster in Tucson (it was the only place near the hotel). The hostess brought me past dozens of empty tables and tried to sit me at a table beside a family with a screming toddler. I asked her flat out to be seated away from that child, and she looked at me like I was making her day harder..probably was, because they try to seat by server sections..but that's not MY problem. MY problem was that I didn't want to be close to a screaming toddler. But if you don't ask, you don't get.
I'm pretty easy going about where I'm seated in a restaurant but I don't accept tables next to screaming children if there are other open tables. I don't really care if this makes life harder for the hostess or offends the kid's parents. But, I don't think this has anything to do with solo travel since I've had to deal with the same situation when eating with others.