Jack & Jill Breakfast Dates

On Friday mornings a friend and I meet at Panera for breakfast, and one thing I particularly enjoy about our time is the atmosphere.  Tall table sitting is a must, by the window, each on our own side of the table invariably.  Crowded and busy enough to offer a sense of privacy at your own table, yet not so loud as to hinder conversation, Panera has that Baby Bear “just right” feel.  It’s obvious we’re living in the Bible Belt as Bibles grace the tables and booths of maybe half of the patrons.  There are people praying one on one, youth ministers meeting with students and sometimes larger “breakfast club” type accountability groups.  This morning I noticed a young dad eating breakfast with his daughter who was maybe around nine or ten years old, and I had an immediate flashback to the occasional breakfast dates I had with my dad as a child.

When I was in elementary school my family only had one car.  Our morning routine consisted of my dad dropping my mom and me off at our respective schools before heading to work.  At lunch, he would take my mom the car and then she took him back to work so that she could use the car to pick me up in the afternoons after work.  Before dinner my mom and I would head up to the Newspaper to pick up my dad.  I remember being sent up to his desk to let him know we were there, and sometimes in the parking lot we would race back to the car.  On certain mornings when my mom had to be at work early, my dad would take me out to breakfast before it was time for me to be at school.  We always went to Jack & Jill Doughnuts on S. 14th, just around the corner from my mom’s school.  There was quite a little community there at Jack & Jill’s.  I remember sitting at the end of the counter with my dad eating my strawberry spinkled doughnut alongside a group of old men talking and drinking their coffee before heading off to work.  Something about that time was special.  It wasn’t an every day thing … it was a treat, and I always felt special to be there just me and my dad.

Now I’m sure all of this drop off/pick up/car exchange stuff was a headache for my parents.  My dad probably would have enjoyed getting thirty extra minutes of sleep those mornings.  But there’s something to be said about family car travel time and the inconveniences that afford opportunities like Jack & Jill breakfast dates.