going out

Last week in class we talked about how it is unusual for a person to go to a movie or a restaurant by themself. I work in a restaurant and noticed that this weekend nobody had come alone. Previous weekends there would be several people requesting a table for one. I noticed however, there is a difference between women and men going out alone. The men clearly had come in, perhaps after work, and just wanted a meal; whereas the women came prepared with books, magazines and other devices. I wonder why women feel the need to be armed with equipment when out alone. It's strange how society makes it seem unacceptable to just go out to a restaurant by yourself. As a hostess I'm always reluctant to give just one person a table and try to nicely show them to the bar. I guess our culture is sort of anti-single people.