American Diner

This morning I indulged in a weekly ritual that I always look forward to: Breakfast at Norma's.

Norma's is a diner about five blocks from where I live. It's been in its current spot for about 15 or 20 years, but before that it was down the street a piece (as we say here in the south). I don't remember it from those days--that was before I moved here to Oak Cliff, one of the oldest sections of Dallas. But I understand it was pretty much the same as it is now.

Norma's serves a lot of really yummy but not-exactly-healthy food. I prefer the breakfast to anything. Best biscuits and pancakes on earth, bacon and eggs, sausage gravy, grits, all that good stuff. But the best thing about Norma's is the people--the people who work there and the people who eat there.

If a newcomer enters, he'll be greeted with, "Just have a seat anywhere you like!" (No one says that to us anymore, because we know the drill.)

Pam is the manager, and she's almost always there. She knows all of the regulars by name and stops by everyone's table, coffee pot in hand, to relate the latest gossip about the neighborhood. She's got a huge heart, and she's always involving the restaurant in various charitable events--food drives, feeding the hungry on Thanksgiving, raising money so a needy child can have an operation.

A number of the waitresses have been there for years and years. If they see us come in, two hot coffees will be whisked in front of us the moment we sit down. Sometimes they don't even give us menus because we have it memorized, and it doesn't change. (Pam tried introducing whole grain pancakes once, but it didn't take.) The only thing that changes is the chalkboard specials, but even those are predictable depending on what day it is.

I like to watch the patrons, too, an eclectic mis of after-church ladies all dressed up, working men in overalls, old and young, all races, all education levels. Many of us are such regular patrons that we've gotten to know each other, and chats from booth to booth are common.

If you read any of my "Blond Justice" books of a few years ago, the diner in those books was based on Norma's. And when the books came out, I had a booksigning at the diner and I sold 75 books.

When I move to California (if it ever happens!) I will miss Norma's almost more than anything. I'm sure we'll find other favorite breakfast spots, and we'll become regulars some other place. But Norma's will always hold a special place in my heart.