The other day I had brunch all by myself for the first time ever. One-hundred percent on my own. Without a book or a magazine, no laptop, no iPod, and certainly no friends in sight.

It wasn’t planned, exactly. I’d left the apartment with plans to meet a guy pal at our favorite cafe, until he frantically called me explaining that his dog had swallowed a tube of BenGay.

Of course I understood the dire need to rush his pooch to the nearest vet, but my growling stomach didn’t seem to share that same feeling of empathy. Knowing I’d have to order my usual strawberry pancakes on my own, I wondered if my fake could pull through and reward me with a mimosa or two. After all, look how independent I was being!

Sitting there at my table-for-one, having to stifle my urge to make conversation, (“So I got completely hammered last night and gave the bouncer my phone number…”) and repetitively forgetting there’s no one sitting across from me this cloudy Sunday, I realized how important it is to learn independence at a young age.

Sure, moving out and living life away from home for four (or five!) brilliant college years provide everyone with a fair lesson in self-sufficiency, but how independent are you really? Could you go out by yourself if you had to? I know I personally get antsy even having to meet someone at a party. Walking through a crowded dance floor trying to locate a friend or the keg (whichever one first) launches me into mini-panic attacks. Read More »