Where everybody knows your name

I recently found this website:

http://1000awesomethings.com/

It’s a cute site for the most part about taking the joy in the smaller things in life or appreciating the things we tend to overlook in our busy me now society. My favorite one on the site so far has been this one.

#15 Becoming a regular somewhere

That one made me quite nostalgic recalling places that I have been a regular at in the past. I’ve been a regular at a lot of places such as restaurants, comic book shops, convenience stores, parks and concert venues. I’ve enjoyed a lot of perks as a result. The best being free concert tickets, and getting to meet one of my favorite guitarists backstage before a show.

The first place I can recall is Pizza Hut. By the time I was in 6^th grade my parents were divorced. I would get to see my dad every other weekend. He started picking me up on Wednesday nights where I would spend the night and he would take me to school on Thursday. He would pick me up from school so I didn’t have to ride the bus. I would then sit in the conference room of his office building doing my homework while he finished his day. By 5:30 we would both be done and on our way to Durham for Pizza and either a movie or Putt Putt.

A gourmet restaurant per my 6th grade self

We consistently stopped at the same Pizza Hut, the one that was across from the Putt Putt near Riverview. Neither exist anymore nor have they for a while but in 1990 they were both in their prime. Pizza Hut was my favorite place to eat in elementary school. I loved the personal pan pizza (it was all mine!) and the cheese breadsticks are still a favorite of mine to this day. One Saturday we went with a larger group of Dad, myself, my sister and several of her friends. The college age waiter looked at my dad alone with all these kids and blurted out “Are all those yours?”  My dad laughed, we sat down, ordered and had a nice meal. The waiter took really good care of us. 

Wednesday just me and dad showed up at the same pizza hut and the same guy was there (we will call him mike since I can’t actually remember his name and Mike seems as likely as any) and said “Hey, welcome back!” We ordered and chatted with him. This became our consistent wed night place because of Mike’s friendliness and excellent service. I remember one Wednesday we came in (same time as always) and Mike looks at us and goes “The usual?” and we say “Yes.” It was my first experience with ordering the usual. I loved it. We did this for all of my 6^th grade year. I can’t recall why we stopped.

I never did drugs and I love pizza. Thanks TMNT!

After Pizza there would be a movie or Putt Putt depending on the weather and what was showing. More often than not we would go to Putt Putt but we typically didn’t play miniature golf. I was mainly interested in the arcade. Dad would go get about $5 in tokens and I would play the rest of the evening. Sometimes he would join me, most of the time he watched.

Very little putt putt was played.

They had a two player Operation Wolf, which was awesome.

That guy on my shoulder? He's gonna die soon.

We could always get to the final boss and defeat him but could never keep the Pilot alive. Most of the time, especially the late fall & winter, we were the only people there. I remember one night coming into the arcade after leaving pizza hut and the guy remarked “I knew you guys would come! You’re the only reason I stayed open tonight.” I can’t remember exactly when it closed but I remember being sad when It did. 

For the last 15 years when I have driven by there with no Putt and no Pizza Hut I still smile remembering all the good memories that I had at both of them. So, if you’ve never experienced being a regular sometime find a place you like and enjoy it.You'll be amazed at what you can learn about people when you take a few minutes to get to know them.