THAT'S PROGRESS!

 

They are a dying species.  The old school diner.  Nothing fancy.  They were just there.  If you wanted coffee, bacon and eggs, hash browns, or maybe, old style pancakes with lots of syrup, something south of $4.99 would do the trick.  Throw in a $2 tip for the smart aleck middle aged waitress and you were good as gold.  The places dotted the South Florida landscape.  Smitty's, Rascal House, The Ham And Eggery, and on and on.  Some are still around:  Jimmy's, Lester's, Grampa's, The Stadium Diner.  They all had a pedestrian quality to them.  On any given morning, a mix of lawyers, cops, ne'er do wells, construction workers, and court clerks, all reading The Miami Herald and watching the local news on a cheap , 19 inch TV hanging over the counter with the volume just a tad too high.  The background noise was silverware and dishes clanking together.  These images came to mind last night as I was making my way to my nightly boxing class on the outskirts of Wynnwood near Overtown.  I walked past a forgotten relic from Miami's past:  The S & S Diner.  A victim of progress.  The area as it used to be is being bulldozed to smithereens to be replaced by, what else, glass and steal edifices sub-divided into 900 square foot living spaces to accommodate ex New Yorkers who are sick and tired of the high crime and taxes in the Big Apple.  And people wonder why the rents are so high here.  But it didn't use to be that way.  Long ago, the S & S was a bustling little eatery that checked all the boxes for what now goes for "old school." 

 

So here's to yesterday.  As Meatloaf said it best:  "It was long ago and far away and things were so much better than they are today."