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Comment by mikegreenspan | Hacker News Reader

What is the best way to meet new people during lunch at a company cafeteria?

This summer, I visited a friend at Google and stayed for lunch (the food is incredible, better than most five-star restaurants btw). That day I noticed the same problem this article highlights. Either groups are meeting during lunch, or the remaining "loners" are reading the latest tech news on their computers and appear completely unapproachable. So if you don't want to eat alone and want to make new friends, what is the optimal way to overcome these barriers?

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I'm in a similar situation. I will soon working from a satellite office. Few to none of my new office mates will actually work on my team. I won't receive "welcome to the team" introductions and none of my office mates will have shared work topics to discuss.

Some Google cafeterias have tables labeled for people interested in meeting new people. Lunch can be easier when you know that anyone sitting at those tables is open to new people joining their conversations.

That's a cool idea. It would also be cool to see this kind of thing more often at cafés or restaurants. I'm introverted, but I also like meeting people and would often prefer a decent conversation to eating or hanging out alone. I assume plenty of others are the same, but the threat of awkwardness/rejection keeps people from striking something up. This seems like a nice low key way to get around that.

I did some backpacking in Europe on my own several years ago, and one of the better experiences was a hostel in Prague that provided cheap home cooked meals in a dining room with big group tables. Made it really easy to meet people and was the time when everyone made plans for the day/night, so I always had the option of attaching to a group if I wanted to. I was only there for a week, but the group of travelers there at that time actually became fairly close knit, and I'm certain it was primarily due to the group meals.

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