The Joy of Bic's

Nancy Jumper and I meet at least once each week for breakfast at this great diner a couple of blocks from our office. Normally the work week is fast-paced and crazy. Bic's gives us an hour to take time over coffee, eggs, hashbrowns and biscuits to catch up on life.

One of my favorite things about a "Bic's Day" is that we get to see Pat, our waitress. She knows our orders without asking and generally hassels us over being late or using too much cream (Nancy) or--the unthinkable--adjusting the "usual" (me). Pat has been waitressing since she was a teenager and is very, very good. It's fun to sit down at the booth and have her meet me with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Nancy's favorite pastime is trying to figure who all the "regulars" are. (Regulars? If it weren't for Nancy I would have never even noticed there were regulars.) There's the group that sits by the cash register who talk formally and clap periodically. I have no idea what that is about, but Nancy's theory--based on the general look of boredom around the table--is that it is some sort of ill-formed networking group. There is a group of men, possibly retirees, who sit at the table near the kitchen with one young woman in a ponytail. Nancy thinks they are pilots (Bic's is near the airport) and that Ponytail works in the control tower. There's another individual whose gender we cannot ascertain, but I try not to guess about that too much.

Of course, Nancy and I have our usual booth in Pat's section. And it is entirely possible that at this very moment, someone somewhere is blogging about the woman who took a picture (with flash) at breakfast this morning.