Too Tall John spent his days slightly bent over a hot grill at The Salem Diner. Built in 1941, it was one of the last of the Sterling Streamliners design and is one of only two still standing in the area. The ventilation hood hung three inches shorter than Too Tall and he didn’t quite fit under it. Watching him every day, I was amazed at how in that position, he could sling hash, make eggs and pancakes as well as he did. A true pro. It was a bit of a pain he said, but he needed the job. There were some of us you could call regulars. Being a regular meant that most times you ordered the same thing. At breakfast, I’d order eggs and toast the same way. At lunchtime, it was always a chicken salad club. Diane, the waitress who had been there since the dawn of time, would just walk up, drop coffee in front of me and ask, “The usual?” Made life easy for everyone all around. In the morning, there’d be these four guys who gathered for breakfast. They sat in the same booth every time, that was part of being a regular. One was Johnny Pesky, the famous Red Sox player, long since retired. Someone took a magic marker and on the rack where they hung their coats next to their booth, wrote: Pesky Pole. An inside joke if you know anything about the Red Sox. When my daughter was young, I would take her to the Salem Diner for Saturday morning breakfast. We’d sit at the counter and Too Tall would turn to me and ask, “The usual?” I’d nod and then order one large pancake for Athena. She could never eat a stack of three, so Too Tall made her one big one. As we were leaving one Saturday, she turned to me and said, “You know Dad, I wish I had a usual too.” At the end of the next week, I approached Too Tall about it. This is a benefit you get from being a regular. The following Saturday morning, Athena and I went in for breakfast, found our place at the counter and Too Tall turns to Athena and said, “You want the usual?” Her smile was as big as the pancake he dropped in front of her. She felt like a regular. And I liked that.

originally published in: Pieces of Salem: A Salem Anthology 2026