Eating lunch by yourself doesn’t mean nobody wants you. Sometimes it means you wanted a sandwich and a quiet table.

Being on your own at lunch can mean several different things, and the mind tends to reach for the worst reading first. Sometimes it genuinely is loneliness and that deserves to be named rather than argued with. Often, though, it is just a preference for quiet in the middle of a loud day, and the two get filed under the same heading.

Check which one it actually is before you decide what it says about you. If it is the quiet you wanted, take it without apologising. If it is the other, that is worth attending to plainly, and it is not a verdict on your worth.