I've made my way through my fair share of New York diners, including the Metro that the writer so fondly describes, and diners in all sorts of cities. It's true, the diner is a place where people tend to feel at home. The amount of conversations I've had with complete strangers as I've traveled that sprung up in diners is amazing. It's where you really learn about a place and feel as though you belong there. In Cleveland we had a great conversation about the Indians and the odd quirks of a scoreboard; in Chicago we saw a couple people who spent the night a little too happy about a Cubs win; on my trips out west I always loved asking the servers what their favourite dishes were to get some hometown advice. I haven't yet, but one day hope to find the place that becomes my personal "third place," but I also hope that some of these diners can find a way to stick around until then. It might not be the fanciest fair, but it's the type of food our cities and towns are built on and where we all come together over some cheap eggs and bacon.
In recent years its been well discussed how technology brings us together in many different ways, and yet somehow draws us apart at the same time. We have online public squares, preaching our points to friends on Facebook or on our blogs, and yet we seem to miss each other. One place that has always seemed to bring out a personal conversation, big or small, has been at the diner.
The home-away-from-home atmosphere that the best diners possess invites a sort of comfort that is unrivaled elsewhere. When you sit down in front of those comfort foods, you're not always surrounded by your carefully curated friends that reign supreme on your social media, but instead you're interacting with people from all walks of life. You talk to your server who may have grown up with their parents running this diner, or maybe they're new immigrants finding their first job. You talk to your neighbor on the counter who ordered something that looks absolutely delicious. These aren't people you've chosen to be in your life but at the same time they add something to it that may shape your view of the world.
With diners in some places disappearing, I think its time for us to really think about what we may be losing if this trend continues. I'm thankful for George Blecher for bringing this conversation to my attention and I hope to continue it.