America on a Plate

[johncorrigan]

If you've been to the States chances are you've experienced the joys of the Diner - from the small town to the big city it can be a delightful experience. I suppose my favourite memory was hitching through Louisiana near Baton Rouge and stopping in a Diner in the middle of a warm November day many years ago. The guy next to me at the counter started talking and he told me of his life in that area. He said, 'It was a stopping point for birds migrating in looking for the millet in the swamps. At this time of the year you would look up and you could hardly see the sky for birds, millions it felt like of all different kinds. But they drained the swamps to build and look now.' - we turned and looked up - 'Hardly a bird in the sky'. I can still feel his sadness thirty years on.

On BBC 4 Stephen Smith took us on a road trip looking at the Diner across America as it is viewed by painters, photographers, musicians and activists and while the programme was not perfect it gave a fascinating insight into something that is so distinctively American. Among other things he goes looking for Hopper's diner, there's a nice wee bit of film of Suzanne Vega in 'Tom's Diner and chilling images from the civil rights activists sitting-in in diners in the South. Good soundtrack too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017ss8x

[MrGongGong]

Thanks for that , I meant to watch it but missed it so iplayer time
but I advise you avoid Diners, Drive in's and Dives on the "food channel" as there's only so much "pulled pork" I can take..........

[Flosshilde]

Is there a TV programme as well? There is a short series on Radio 4 (or was it Radio 3?) linked to Thanksgiving. When it was trailed my reaction was that I wish that the BBC would cool its love affair with the USA. However, I listened to the first (about popcorn) & rather enjoyed it (I suspect that it was the pleasant, relaxed, - East coast? - accent of the speaker)

[Dave2002]

I've been to quite a few diners, sometimes late at night in various odd places. Scariest was in LA where we went late at night, since our hotel had stopped serving food. Very quickly we noticed the security guards - at least 4 maybe up to 8 walking round the tables I resisted any temptation to reach out and touch their guns, or engage in conversation. After a while a few police cars drew up and a similar number of armed cops came out. And they just chatted and fraternised with the other guards. I got the feeling that there was nothing unusual about this, and it probably happened every night after 11pm. Maybe they were looking for something, but I think they were just "protecting" us. I wouldn't have liked to be there if the need for such "protection" became necessary. If we hadn't been hungry or if we'd known in advance we might not have gone there - but it was one of the few places open.

I've never seen this in other parts of the US, and mostly I've not felt threatened by guards, the police, or the local inhabs. That was, thankfully, a one off.