Five Things Best Done Alone

I enjoy the company of others. I am married. I do have friends. I typically do very well working as part of a team. I am also (to some small degree) a closeted egomaniac. I love who I am and there are just some things I like to do with my awesome self, without having someone else around to inevitably ruin the experience. For those of you who dare to delve into the realm of self-worship for a brief moment, here are my top five activities that are more enjoyable when participated in by your lonesome.

1. Going to a Movie.

You know, I can actually hear the voice of some future reader crying out in protest, and I have a message for that person: Going to movies by yourself is one of the single most amazing experiences one person can have in this lifetime. This particularly rings true for me, as my largest and most beastly pet peeve is when people talk, whisper, and/or check their cell phones during a movie, even during the previews. The previews are my favorite part of the movie.

Going to the theater alone also avoids the inevitable battle over what movie to see. For some reason, it is impossible for two people to go to a movie theater and instantly agree on one movie they both would like to see. Throw in a few more people (all with different film preferences) and we're entering the third world war. Going by yourself not only keeps your sanity mostly intact. It also makes it 97.34% more likely that the people you would have gone to the movie with in the first place ever speak to you again.

There is one other advantage to going to movies alone that I wanted to touch on before I move on. I sit in the third row in all movie theaters; after all, the second row is just too close and sitting on the fourth row, you run the risk of someone too tall or a child in a booster seat sitting in front of you. Unfortunately, every other movie patron friend of mine likes to sit somewhere in the middle of the theater, which is undoubtedly an unforgivable sin. I prefer to sit where I want, eating a jumbo bag of popcorn (another hidden advantage--no grubby fingers reaching in your personal popcorn supply).

2. Driving.