The Gun Counter

So, I’m not sure if this could be the military influence - a substantial part of SC’s population either served, or are the children of servicemen.

But, it seems like in small “local” places in SC, if they get busy, and there are men sitting alone, other men come and sit down with them.

Some of the local places just “fill in” but all of those locals do know one another.

SC is probably the only place where “if you aren’t 15 minutes early, you’re late” socially.

Does the military encourage people to just sit down and eat?

Didn't spend a lot of time in chow halls as an officer, but my experience from the 80's is that if you are eating in a chow hall, and you aren't there in formation as part of a unit, then you grab whatever seat you can as you often have limited time to eat. Folks did tend to congregate by unit, but not always possible, especially during an exercise/in the field with weird schedules