A foundational brick within U.S. society: diner booths

One thing that unites us. Don't let them vanish.

Excerpt: "Once upon a time there was an old-fashioned diner-style restaurant in my town, and I frequented it for decades. A sizable group of us even had a breakfast club there, convening every morning to discuss ways the world could be improved. After my kids grew up and moved away, the first thing they wanted to do each time they came home was have pancakes in the mythical establishment they had cherished since they were toddlers.

Locals loved everything about the restaurant: the ambience, the decor, the clientele, the staff. Most of us even liked the food, though generally speaking the food was an afterthought. The restaurant (the original owner hated it when anyone referred to it as a diner) was a central meeting place in the village, the suburban equivalent of the ancient Roman forum. It was like “Cheers” without the liquor.

But it was sold after Covid hit, and new owners remodeled the place, sprucing it up and giving it a glitzy new feel. They started by tearing out all the booths. I immediately stopped going. So did my friends and a lot of the old patrons. The breakfast club was kaput. Without our beloved booths we were nothing."