Althouse: Lunch at the Loneliness Café.

March 10, 2008

Lunch at the Loneliness Café.

13 comments:

Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/10/08, 2:13 PM
rhhardin said...: You can't do math on paper napkins for hours in NYC. They want you to move on.

I recommend Don's Drive-In in Livingston NJ, during a slow hour.; 3/10/08, 2:19 PM
knox said...: Makes me think of Ann Tyler's "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant"; 3/10/08, 2:58 PM
dick said...: Reminds me of the people at the Starbucks in Forest Hills. I have seen people sit there for hours using their Macs and spread out all over the tables. The same with the coffee shop at the Barnes and Noble on Broadway You are lucky to get a table at all with the people sitting there using their computers. They buy a coffee and then camp out. Pay no attention to anyone else there.; 3/10/08, 3:15 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Dick: Actually, if you view the picture in the large format at the link, you'll be able to read the sign on the wall banning computers. It's right next to a guy with a computer, but he's the only one in the place violating the rule.

Knoxwhirled -- yeah, I hadn't thought of that consciously (but I have read that book).

Trooper: It's Tazza on Henry Street, just north of Atlantic.; 3/10/08, 4:48 PM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/10/08, 5:03 PM
titusinfirstposition said...: Us New Yorkers are a bunch that is "alone" quite a bit.

I am alone all the time-but definitely not lonely.

I never get lonely and love being along-is there something wrong with me?

Well, I am not totally alone. I have my rare clumbers and I tell them everyday I am so happy they are in the house with me.

Last night I woke up and I was completely wrapped around one of the rare clumbers. One of his paws was around my shoulder. My leg was wrapped around his body and are heads were resting on each other. None of this was sexual but it was intimate to me.; 3/10/08, 5:15 PM
ricpic said...: He won't look at her,
She won't look at him:
They're both too perfect to admit
That they'd rather be each others company
- However imperfect -
Than to perfectly alone sit.; 3/10/08, 5:38 PM
ricpic said...: The Missed Opportunity

He won' look at her,
She won't look at him:
They're both too perfect to admit
That they'd rather be each others company
- However imperfect -
Than to perfectly alone sit.

He won't look at her,
She won't look at him:
They're both too proud to admit
That they'd rather be each others company
- However imperfect -
Than to perfectly alone sit.

He won't look at her,
She won't look at him:
They're both too afraid to admit
That they'd rather be each others company
- However imperfect -
Than to perfectly alone sit.; 3/10/08, 6:19 PM
Joe M. said...: would it be too much? Never!

And the waitress is practicing politics
While the businessmen slowly get stoned
And they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone.; 3/10/08, 8:52 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: The guy with the computer is trying to book a hooker online. He is also working on his website. He wants to run for governor of New York.

The red head is thinking that he looks like a stone cold geek.

The lady in the blue outfit is a Hillary impersonator.

Oh, and they forgot to take all their Christmas lights down.; 3/10/08, 10:16 PM
Maggie Goff said...: Mr. Hardin, is Don's still there? Good lord, that brings back memories. I went there with the former husband after our first date. 1966. Holy moly. Hadn't thought of that for a long time. They had absolutely THE BEST hamburgers.; 3/10/08, 10:23 PM
modalrealist said...: rhhardin and maggie45, I grew up in the White Oak Ridge neighborhood of Short Hills, less than a mile from Don's Drive In, which later was renamed Don's Restaurant. I must have eaten there a thousand times from early childhood to my late thirties. I agree, the burgers were terrific; my favorite was a rare charbroiled cheeseburger with sautéed onions and a side of french fries. The house-made ice cream and fountain specialties also were quite good.

When I was a little kid Don's had "curb service" (actually parking-lot service) with female carhops on roller skates, as well as a counter inside. By the mid-to-late ‘60s the carhops were discontinued, the original very small enclosed waiting room was expanded, and a bakery was added. Eventually the original building was enlarged considerably and the interior was renovated and expanded, though the counter was retained in essentially its original configuration.

I haven't lived in Short Hills for over thirty years, nor visited there in almost a decade. Recently I learned from a former Millburn Township official that Don Roth, the founder and owner, has passed away.

Do either of you remember Olga or Flo? Both worked at Don's counter for decades, and over time came to be old friends to long-time regulars.; 8/27/08, 2:00 PM