I miss the diner already and I want to set an appointment to meet you all there when it's safe. My family and I don't go out to breakfast often but when we do, I get all joyful in my soul cockles. I don't know what it is about sitting in a diner and having a meal that makes me so happy, maybe it's the sense of community? The diner is a place you can actually go to alone and not feel alone at all.

When I was a kid, my dad would take me to the diner, he'd buy the Daily News, get me an orange juice and we would sit at the counter together and I felt like I was a part of something bigger, even if we didn't talk to anyone else. We usually did talk to other people, my pops is a bit of a talker. I do this with my kids now and I hope they feel the same thing, something more than a meal is taking place.

When we do the diner day we always go to Elmer's Diner, the service is awesome, the food is great, hot and fast, it's a pleasant way to start the day. You must try their macaroni salad, chef recommends, I'm chef. Other than the macaroni salad, I always order the same thing when I'm at the Diner, any diner, I get mozzarella sticks, french fries, black coffee and a fountain Coca-Cola.

I am proposing, when it's safe we fill Elmer's booths with I-95 listeners and have a meal together, maybe Ethan and I can work it out so we do a live broadcast there. As a generally anti-social human, isolation as a concept sounds kind of awesome to me but I'm over it and ready to see and talk to people I don't know or people I miss. We all have to fight that urge and do what is right, stay home and isolate but while we wait we can start making lists of the places we will go and the people we will see. I'm putting Elmer's Diner at the top of that list and hope you will join me.

We can all get orange juices, a copy of the Daily News, sit at the counter and swing our feet like little kids. Until the counter is full, we will likely run out of space there but I'll shout across the room to you in the booth.

P.S. Elmer's has a super cool, kind of weird, still awesome policy where anyone can tour their kitchen, have you tried it?

 

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