A few days ago, after a morning workout at the gym, I went to the snack bar for my "regular". The woman behind the counter greeted me with a smile and asked "The Regular?" A nod. Another nod and the breakfast smoothie with pineapple, mango, in orange juice, with a vanilla protein shot was under way.
It's amazing how my "Regular" has morphed over the years. At different times -- with time and depending upon the time of day -- "Regular" has meant different things. It's been toasted dry English muffin, multi-grain bagel with cream cheese (easy on the cream cheese), tuna salad on whole wheat with lettuce, and provolone and genoa salami with lettuce and mustard on rye --- to name only a few.
The nice thing about “The Regular” is that, after being ordered once or twice, all that was required was my being at the same place with a smile and a nod.
I always wondered how they knew and remembered. After all, I was probably one of hundreds. And when I left never to return, I wondered whether they would wonder what happened to "Toasted English Dry"?