Dear Queenie,
A few of us friends used to get together now and then and go out to dinner, but some of the others have started bringing along other people the rest of us don’t know so well and it’s getting to be more and more people so now we take up a long table or several small tables and you can only hold a conversation with the person next to you.
Queenie, what’s the point of going out with friends if you can’t socialize with all of them? — Fed up
Dear Fed up,
Talk this over with some of the others (the ones who do not bring other people) and see if they agree with you.
If so, arrange to get together with them (maybe not at a restaurant?) without the bring-alongers.
If not, you might want to consider dropping out of the dinner-out occasions and meeting up with your friends on a more one-on-one (or two or three) basis, perhaps not at a restaurant, more the way it used to be.
