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For those of you who have never experienced a business trip by yourself, it's a unique time. I've done enough of them to where I can actually spot people out and about that I can tell are on business trips.
The most awkward thing about going it alone in a strange city is eating out. Since you're on the company expense account, you feel morally obligated to eat somewhere nice, and spend as much money as possible. It doesn't matter that you can't possibly eat all of the food or that your body would kill you if you did. When you're not paying for what you order, it completely changes your mindset. Let's just say that when I'm picking up the check, I don't tend to get an appetizer and dessert.
The experience of actually eating at the restaurant by yourself is the most uncomfortable thing in the world. You just feel weird sitting in a restaurant by yourself. Maybe some people do this in their home town, but I sure never have, and I don't think I know anyone that does it. You don't realize how much you miss the conversation while you're eating. The elapsed time between when you order and when you get your food seems many times longer, although it does seem that they realize this and tend to bring your food pretty fast. I've gone as far as having food delivered to my hotel room in order to avoid this experience, but after my first attempt at trying to cut a steak with a plastic knife, this idea was shot.
The interaction with the server also becomes odd...you can tell that in the back of his mind, he feels a little sorry for you...he doesn't know if you're just a loner from down the street, or of course on a business trip. Two recent restaurant trips exemplify this...one time, the server continuously called me "chief", and tonight, my server kept calling me "boss man". Umm...okay.
Another sign that someone is on a business trip is when you see a guy wandering around Barnes & Noble. I realize that there are plenty of people who spend a lot of time there...the people you always see reading magazines, those taking up all the chairs reading books, and of course the people getting coffee (this deserves its own rambling). Those people look at home. It's when you see someone who doesn't look like they belong there, just sort of walking around, looking for something to grab his interest. There's a slight chance that this person could be a guy looking for a present for his wife, but most of the time, it's someone on a business trip just trying to kill some time. They have the same look as all of the people you see in the airport gift shop. They don't really want to be there, and they don't really want to buy anything, but they're bored out of their mind and are looking for something to do. Best Buy and Circuit City also have a healthy supply of these people.
So next time you see someone by themselves, instead of thinking "What a loser!", remember, but for the grace of God, that could be you on a business trip, just trying to limit the number of hours you waste in your hotel room watching TV.