A few years ago, I walked into Panera and placed my order. After I paid, I 1 further into the cafe to find a seat. As I sat down, I 2 that at the table next to me, there was an older man with a cap eating his soup 3 . He wasn't saving the seat; the 4 in front of him was empty. As I saw the 5 , a feeling of sadness began to 6 me. Why was he eating alone? Was he lonely? Did he want someone to keep him 7 ?
This wasn't the first time I'd felt 8 when I noticed someone eating alone. I don't like being alone very much, so I don't like seeing people eat alone. I automatically(自动地) 9 they're lonely and need someone to be there for them.
For some reason, eating with other people is a 10 . Modern society has 11 to the point where most people eat with others and do almost every 12 together. If we need to get lunch before a class, we'd rather ask around to see if someone will come with us. So many people are always around someone else, and that may make people think we always need someone with us to feel better about ourselves.
But that's not true. We can enjoy being alone – not everyone needs to be constantly 13 by friends to be happy. And we shouldn't be 14 to eat alone if that's what we want to do. We don't have to do what everyone else does. So it's 15 to realize seeing someone doing something alone doesn't mean they're lonely.
