Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Chelsea Square Diner (Economist photo)

Sitting alone in a late-night diner is a common, uniquely American experience. At some point in their lives everyone has made their way to the coffee-stained counters and booths that once reeked of tobacco. Everyone has been a business traveler on a budget, a swing-shifter on the way home, or a lonely single in need of some human contact.

Economist writer Tara Burton sat in one of these American (actually, New York) institutions for a day and chronicled the comings-and-goings of its denizens, most of whom the staff know by name.

Though the diners are slowly winking out of existence ("Ten years ago there were 1,000 diners in New York. Now there are fewer than 400") they meet a deeply felt need for enough people that some will be around for a long time. As Lynn, the producer of classical CD's, reflects, “I spend more time here than with my own family.” .

She is not alone.

Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (1942), Art Institute of Chicago