By Susan M. Ellis of Key Life Journeys......

It is early Saturday morning, the mall doors are unlocked but the small shops won’t open till 10am. So the family diner in the department store offers a cut-price breakfast until 10. I like coming here to people watch and soak up the treasured ambience. Near the mall are several seniors’ buildings and the tenants frequent this diner. It is easy to see why. The employees understand their customers. The smile is genuine; there is no rushing; they speak when they have eye contact improving the chances that those with hearing problems will comprehend. There are many people sitting alone having their comfort food. There is no one judging you. It provides a safe sanctuary in a pestering world. There are old hula-hoops and skittles on the walls. The music in the background is familiar. Beatle ballads, the Platters, Del Shannon, Frankie Valli “Sherry Baby, Sherry can you come out tonight?”

Today’s teenagers congregate round the fast food outlets in the mall. They don’t come here to have a piece of blueberry pie and coffee for $3.47.  When I was a teenager I would have been paying with three-penny bits and half crowns.  “You were too young to fall in love and I was too young to know” the singer tells me and the other grey haired breakfasters.  They say that if you remember the 60s then you weren’t there. I guess that if I had been a “wild thing” back then, I wouldn’t have either…but I realize I can remember every word of these songs even the da- do-ron–rons.

At the diner, when you have been served, the staff does not forget you. It’s like you are family now until you leave. It’s cozy. Nancy Sinatra is prophesying that “one of these days these boots are going to walk all over you.” But not here. “Are you okay?” she asks as she passes with laden arms. “More coffee?” and she’s at your table just as you were savoring the last drop.

But the bacon and eggs are finished, the rind from the slice of orange garnish remains on the plate. The bill has been placed on the table. Several people are now lining up to pay at the cash register serviced by a young man who I had seen earlier. He had been carefully cleaning the tops of the salt and peppershakers and filling the sugar containers. He works slowly and methodically giving each customer a wide smile and a warm greeting. My turn and he asks if I have had a good meal. I nod. Am I am having a good day? I smile. I realize I am. He then asks if I am over 65 and would l like the senior’s discount. I tell him that I am not but if he thinks I should get the discount, that’s okay with me. He chuckles and says of course. Slowly he counts out the change. He tells me to a have a great day and I tell him I will. This young man no doubt gets bullied and teased out there in the mall. But at the cash he is king, and I leave feeling on top of the world knowing that it is going to be “One Fine Day.”