A TINGE OF REGRET… TOO LATE
image courtesy of photobucket.com
I like chicken and eggs… Seems like a pretty basic desire right? A chicken breast tends to fit in better with lunch or dinner, I suppose, but a good chicken breast, a couple of over easy eggs with a bowl of grits on the side… a little slice of heaven. The problem with that breakfast is no one serves it anywhere close to where I live, no, not even my own kitchen…
I have to travel a good distance from where I live to enjoy what could be my favorite breakfast. When business takes me into different parts of the city and time allows, I pull into the place that serves up my special breakfast. It’s like pulling off the main road and turning into the parking  lot that time forgot.
My eyes see things that were a normal everyday part of life in decades gone by. It dawned on me last time I stopped in that it might be more than the simple food that keeps me coming back… It could be the reminder of the days of simplicity when life was much more basic that what it’s become.
The old building is small, especially by today’s standards. The structure doesn’t engulf the skyline with wasted space inside and out, trying to stand out and proves that often “less is more.” The vehicles in the parking lot aren’t status symbols, they aren’t screaming who the owners are or who they’re trying to be, they are transportation. You know, kinda how it used to be…
The old parking lot is faded, contrasted by the heavy oil spots from all the tired cars that frequent the old place. Pushing through the old glass door from the narrow cracked ceramic lined hallway the greetings begin, “Hi Hun”! – “How are you today”? Â “Good,” I reply, startled, caught off guard by the friendly dialogue as if I’m the only one in the place.
I slide into the old plastic covered worn booth that’s way too small for the average person. “Need a menu Hun”? “No ma’am,” I reply, “What can I getcha today”? the way too happy for all her personal problems waitress asks me. After I order she brings me a coffee in a mug that looks like it has been around since the fifties, along with the red plastic, see through crackle textured glass from the sixties.
I listen to the simple conversations of simple people, real life issues. They aren’t stressing over the losses of their 401k’s, wondering how the kids they never see could have turned out so bad with a tinge of regret… I spot the juke box, stroll over and select some old songs form decades past to match my mood.
I listen to the old songs and the guy cooking as he sings along… really good too, as I eat my chicken, eggs, and grits with just a touch of honey… that’s how us defendants of hillbilly’s eat em’.
As I eat I wonder to myself, “Why were we in such a hurry to get all of this behind us”?
“Get you another splash of coffee Hun”? she asks.
“Yes please”!… “Thank you Ma’am”.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 5:28 am
Ah, Waffle House! My husband and you would be best buds! When Matt’s having a stressful day at work (or when he just wants some waffles), he heads over there for lunch. I’m not that big of a fan, but I will say they make a very tasty chicken breast. And you’re right–you can’t leave that place in a bad mood. The servers treat you like you’re family.
Nice post. Now I’m hungry.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 7:54 am
They do have good chicken! I think the best part is that it reminds me of days gone by… I miss when life was a little less complicated… Thanks Jennifer.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 7:51 am
Oh man, I love small breakfast joints like that. I still remember a place like the one you described in Portland Oregon. I luckily have found a few around Oceanside.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 7:56 am
They are comforting aren’t they? It’s more about a simple atmosphere than the actual food I think… Thanks Dan, next time we meet maybe we can meet at one of your favorites?
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:31 am
Yes, it’s about the atmosphere. Let plan on it.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:11 pm
Sounds good, thanks.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:04 am
I seldom eat breakfast at all. When we eat out it is usually IHOP. There is a mom & pop place in Indy that I went to once called Mann’s Breakfast. Talk about going back. Miss those simpler times.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:02 pm
Thanks Bill, those simpler times were better than we knew!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:23 am
You’re making me homesick!
And hungry!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:03 pm
Ahh-Haa! I knew you were simple folk at heart!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 4:42 am
You have no idea 🙂
One thing I love for breakfast or dinner is a big chicken fried steak with gravy and fried potatoes.
Yummy!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 7:35 am
Okay, now your talkin’!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 8:57 am
I find it comical that the things we all-too-hurriedly try to leave behind are the very things we desire to recapture. The stuff sold as shabby-chic these days have been garnished from “the old stuff” and repurposed, or fabricated to look that way.
God was certainly one for certain types of tradition and “remembering”. People really do thrive on that sort of stuff – if they will allow themselves.
I think it was great that family history was carved in their staffs. As those were passed on, the connection remained.
Gonna love me some grits this morning, myself! Thanks Floyd!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:13 pm
Thanks Nancy! I’m not surprised you had grits today. Real is best… just too much fake seems like right now.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 9:26 am
Breakfast is my favorite meal (sans the grits, that is). Up north we have diners and they serve breakfast all day…love that! Thanks for sharing and making me hungry bro’!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:14 pm
Thank you Jay. I with you, I’m also one of those people who can eat breakfast any time of the day. I even managed to hit a Waffle House this afternoon for another very late breakfast!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 5:09 pm
Thank you for sharing your post at “Tell Me a True Story.” My husband loves grits and eggs. The first time I enjoyed them was on a solo trip to Tulsa OK to purchase a house in 1976. I had breakfast at a small diner and grits was served with every breakfast. They were so good and now we keep a box in our pantry. They can be cooked up in a couple minutes and there you go!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:16 pm
Your husband is a man after my own heart! I like a little honey on my grits…
Thanks for sharing this at your “Tell Me A True Story” site!
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 6:59 pm
Restaurants like this are simply home for me. I love being with my people. Thanks for taking me there Floyd.
Monday, July 16, 2012 @ 10:17 pm
Thanks for accompanying all of us Audra… It was good wasn’t it? The grits with honey especially…
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 4:37 am
IO liked Waffle House when I lived in the U.S. It is a treat for us to eat out now that we are back living in Australia. My hubby is from TN, and he has never told me he misses grits. Its nice to have a wander back through time to the yesteryear era. Especially when you come from then. Blessings Crystal
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 7:34 am
It is nice to wander back, thanks Crystal. Australia, wow! I’ll bet your husband does miss grits! You gotta ask him!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 7:28 am
They do have great breakfasts and friendly people working there. I could almost see the waitress who served you – seemed like a simple soul and it’s hard to beat simple.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 7:40 am
I couldn’t agree more Mary. It is hard to beat simple. Thanks.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 12:08 pm
Every time I think of Waffle House, I think of my senior trip where my class was driving to Florida (small Christian school, I think there were 8 of us graduating). We had a young woman in the class with a short stature and a short temper to match. A couple of the guys thought it was funny to set her off and when they figured out she hated Waffle House, they seized upon every opportunity to suggest it as a place to eat. Man, she would get so mad about it! Anyway, those are my memories of Waffle House. 🙂
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 5:18 pm
Well if you would have ever had any of their chicken, you’d have a different memory! Mary said it very well I think, simple is good, and the older I get the more I find that to be true. Thanks for sharing the memory!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 4:28 pm
We still go there to eat when we are in Kentucky. Last time was with another couple who like us use to go at 2 in the morning after other places had closed. It was a trip down memory lane that one wants to visit again and again due to the good breakfast and smiling waitress. Seem from your replies others took a stroll down memory lane too. Blessings my brother.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 5:19 pm
It’s good to stroll down memory lane with friends and family… even if our lanes were at different times. Thanks Betty.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 6:04 pm
This was so good!!! Such a wonderful reminder of what cafe/eating out times were like before all the present-day special nationally owned “restaurants” are or some of the fast-food places. It really, truly WAS going out to eat, sliding into the plastic booths [sometimes sliding over a tear on the seat], listening to the jukebox, and on and on. You made me grin, and that’s a good thing, too.
Thanks for sharing so nicely. I really do like to read your stories every week. [AND I very much appreciate your reading and comments on my posts, too.]
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 9:49 pm
I made you grin? What a blessing that is! The simple things in life are the best… How many tears in the old seats have we navigated and felt at home for it? Your posts and commenting are my pleasure, a life you’ve lived for God is worth anyone’s time and I’m blessed by them. Thank you Joanne.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 7:23 pm
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to one of those. Do you remember when IHOP used to be a pancake house, I do! 🙂
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 10:08 pm
I do! I have a dear friend who I’ve met there often in the last couple of years. It is simplicity isn’t it Mike?
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 @ 1:09 pm
Absolutely!
Monday, September 29, 2014 @ 6:42 pm
Oh, my, Floyd! I miss those old days so much, too. I try to grasp for any sign of them I can find!! LOL! Thank you for always encouraging me when I stop by here. God bless you.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 @ 6:52 pm
As usual, you shared thoughtfulness. I am a muncher more often now, b/c I never am sure when and how I can eat. In fact, though, when I started reading this I thought I’d get some smoked sausage and did and loved a few of the pieces. You grabbed me again! And life has changed, over and over again. I can hardly keep doing the same things as usual, b/c so much changes so quickly, and I have to readjust. Again, thanks for sharing again. You are a special person… around and about the world.