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Scott Supple

English: Writing 102

Prof. Nicole Williams

February 8, 2011

Midnight Rendezvous

“The Diner is everybody’s kitchen” –Richard Gutman

When most people think of culture, they think of how people act in societies other than

their own. When in fact, culture is much more in depth. Culture is all around us, it is the food

we eat, the clothes we wear, the people we interact with, how we speak and everything we do.

Culture isn’t just how people differ from one nation to another; it can be between age groups,

social classes, and races. Nick’s Restaurant and Café in Weymouth Massachusetts is a meeting

ground for many different people with different backgrounds and different cultures.

I first stumbled upon Nick’s Café when I was sixteen and was wondering around causing

harmless shenanigans with my friends like a true rebellious teenager. As we walked down the

street enjoying the freedom of the night we noticed a small “hole in the wall” diner with about

ten cars parked in front of it. So we went to see what the commotion was about and saw the

Café was filled with people as if it were a typical Sunday morning. My friends and I have since

made it a tradition to visit Nick’s Café whenever we are in the area and more recently every

time we returned from college.

Nick’s Café is your typical café by day, but by night, it becomes much more. During the

week you will typically find an older crowd getting breakfast or coffee in the morning, not unlike

your average diner. However if you happen to be walking down the street of the Weymouth
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Landing at 2:30 in the morning and happen to see a small open sign on the café’s front door, it

is not a mistake. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nick’s opens its door at 11:00 o’clock at night

and is open through until the “wee hours of the morning”. People of all walks of life, flock to

Nick’s on the weekends young and old, working people and students, rich and poor, all for the

thrill of getting a bite to eat so late at night.

The most obvious culture that is visible at Nick’s Café would be the typical “nightlife

crowd”. Mostly adults from age twenty to thirty that come to grab some food after bars and

club shut down the party after “last call”. These people may be somewhat difficult to interview

due to their state of mind but it should make the researching experience much more

interesting.

Going into this experience I already know a few things about this culture. Many of these

people are potentially in college or are recently graduated from college. Chances are most of

the people that are there have been there before or are regulars every weekend and are

familiar with the workers and the particular atmosphere that accompanies the restaurant.

Most of these people are intoxicated and may not always be a reliable source to talk to,

although their intoxicated response may be even more valuable to the research. Most of these

people are working and are middle class and below.

Luckily I nearly fit the basic profile of most of the people that are typically found at this

diner late at night. I am a working college student that is knows what to expect from the

atmosphere of the restaurant and this will hopefully make my job as an interviewer/ researcher

easier in the fact that they will be more willing to accept my standpoint and more willing to
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answer my questions. To be quite honest if I didn’t feel I had a similar background and life style

to the people that I expect to be at Nick’s I’m not sure I would be willing to do and interview

with anyone out of fear that they might react belligerent in response to my questioning them.

But not all these people are alike. There are kids that look like they’re out way past their bed

time and even people old enough to probably be enjoying their retirement.

Not only do I want to talk to these people that eat at the restaurant, but I would like to

talk to some of the workers or one of the few waitress’ that I know have been there for years.

I’m interested in seeing why they are so dedicated to such a demanding and peculiar job. Do

they feel some kind of connection with the job or are they working and extra overnight on the

weekends to make ends meet back at home? What kind of people have come through Nick’s

and what are the most interesting things that have happened there (I’m sure there are plenty

of instances to choose from)?

I am studying these groups because I want to understand Nick’s Restaurant. What is so

thrilling about having breakfast at 2:00 in the morning? I want to know how Nick’s came to be

such a peculiar place. I am amazed that this one place can hold two roles, one as an everyday

diner and one as a place of such excitement on the weekends. Nick’s Restaurant and Café

thrills people and I want to find to find out the true reason we all find it to be such a great

place.

There are many different sub-cultures within the greater American public. It’s not all

black and white; people are differentiated by their age, race, gender, where they grew up. You

don’t have to be young and you don’t have to be old, you don’t have to be white and you don’t
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have to black, you don’t need to be rich and you don’t need to be poor; no matter who you are

or what you are like, Nicks Café is the perfect place for people to come to wind down and relax

after their night of excitement.