Calm down: it's not a beloved pet. I think I speak for most of us when I say: no more PWB losses, for a looooong time. Thank you.
No, not a beloved furry/feathery friend, but a place that was like a friend. "Whoa! Wait!" I can just hear all you sophisticates, foodies, politically correct friends of labor, and denigrators of the suburb and freeway screaming: "Fer Gawd's Sake, ejoanna, that's a DENNY"S! And a closed one at that!"
And, dear friends, for despite the above afflictions of superior tastes and the pooh-poohing of popular culture and food Michelle O. would thwack (wink, wink) you for even looking at, you are my friends. . . yes, that indeed is a Denny's. A stealthily decommissioned one. We haz been robbed of just about the last "normal" eatery and general hangout venue in our fair (and too-damn wealthy) little county. After 50 years!!
Here's the link to the sad news. Fortunately for what's left of my mental health, someone at church took me aside and broke it to me before the service. I then sought immediate pastoral counseling. For one thing, that Denny's was a fav meeting place for the Pastor and her merry band of trouble-making Progressive Christians.
http://www.marinij.com/...
OK, I know what you're thinking. Yes, I really do. Why is a Kossack, even ejoanna, moping around just because some corporate food purveyor, with a less-than-stellar labor record and an often-high caloric output, pulled outta town?
Because.
Because. . . despite Denny's less-than-perfection, our Denny's had a kind of grandparented-in gravitas and community weight. It was here for 50 years! (OK, I've been here for over 50 years, but I don't serve food--ask my husband--and our neon sign blinked out a long time ago.)
Because:
*Open 24 hours a day, every day
*Booths: big and comfy
*Very friendly staff, many of whom had worked there for decades.
*Terrific iced tea (and endless lemon)
*Laminated menus
*Kid-friendly
*Lotsa parking
*Becoming more food conscious and calorie conscious (like I really cared sometimes about that when all I really wanted was. . .
or:
or mebbe this:
And a place that wasn't too expensive, but welcoming, familiar, unhurried, and always there.
Until it wasn't. Damnation.