Scattered, Smothered, and Wedded

Mondoville is a small Southern town, and the foci of our community are the places a lot of these towns have in common: churches, youth sports, Wal-Mart (where Mrs. M and I may as well hold office hours, so likely are we to encounter students and parents). . . and Waffle House.

I don’t go to Waffle House that often — it’s been at least a couple of years, probably longer — but my students do on a regular basis. After all, the restaurants keep my students’ hours, so when college kids want a snack and a a place to hang at 2:30 a.m., it’s the place to go. Indeed, the town 22 miles from Mondoville — another college town, the home of our former archrivals — once housed the busiest Waffle House in the country. (Incidentally, the restaurant solved that challenge by building another location next door to the busy one.)

But as I said, and as I’ve said before, the chain is a part of the cultural fabric down here. So I probably should have seen this coming, but I was amused and surprised last night to learn that in the Atlanta area, one can hire a Waffle House food truck, or bring in a full Waffle House catering team. We’re told the caterers are available for the usual sorts of events, including business meetings and the like. But my favorite fact is that if you have the funds and desire, you can have Waffle House cater your wedding.

It makes sense to me — Waffle House veterans know that when they want traditional hash browns, they order them “in the ring.” Why not get them with a ring as well?