An empty table is better company than a crowded one where you have to dim yourself to get a seat.

A seat that requires you to be less than you are is not really a seat. The cost is easy to miss because it gets paid in small edits rather than one large concession, and years later you notice how much was trimmed. Being alone is genuinely hard, and it is also honest. Company that requires shrinking is neither.

If you keep editing yourself inside a group, try being accurate once and see what happens. Time on your own is a real cost, not a small one, and it is survivable. Better rooms exist, and they usually arrive later than you want them to.