National Free-Meal Day

Last Tuesday I had the same exact meal as two million people—two eggs, two strips of bacon, two pancakes, and two pieces of sausage. I feel like a jerk saying this, but I have never felt more connected to my fellow Americans, or our collective condition.

I’m not saying that eating the free Denny’s Grand Slam meal was more important to me than 9/11 or the Obama inauguration, but the same unifying features were there—the ubiquity of the topic in all conversation, the sense of comradery that transcended differences, and even a strange feeling of accomplishment. Can we really all share in a tasty free meal? Yes we can.

Despite the fact that it was free, Denny’s promotional strategy was certainly self-serving. In an abysmal market, where the company noted a dramatic drop in sales in its January quarterly report, free meals might be the smartest business move for a restaurant chain.

It’s just that bad.

Nonetheless, the rest of America and I were ready to capitalize. On Feb. 3, or Grand Slam Day as I will remember it (this is my subtle way of calling for this to be an annual tradition), people were telling me about it all morning long. It was like every communication device—text messages, cell phones, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter—was made for this purpose, to let us all in on Grand Slam Day.

The first thing my friends and I had to decide was which Denny’s to go to. To participate in an event of this magnitude, we needed a strategy. Lines would be long, food could run out, tables could all be taken. Choosing the wrong Denny’s could be disastrous.

We decided that we should go to the Denny’s located in a relatively affluent pocket of San Jose. More well-off people would likely: a) Not eat Grand Slams at 1:30 in the afternoon, and b) Not want to wait in line for a free meal.

Yet when we arrived at our targeted Denny’s, the true nature of the economy —all the talk of recession, statistics and comparisons to tough times in history—was revealed. Although we went to an isolated, almost-hidden Denny’s, just caddy corner from a posh hotel, everyone was there—college students, truck drivers in uniform, polo-and Dockers-wearing tech workers with ID badges, corporate types with ties and suits, families of all stripes. The homeless man who lives behind my office was already in line, and we were on the other side of the city.

All of America was at Denny’s that day.

And, lets be frank, Denny’s isn’t really that good. In a period when America seems more health conscious then ever (think “Biggest Loser,” carb-free menus, salads at McDonald’s), eating buttered pancakes dripping in syrup, along with bacon, sausage and eggs, is sort of counter-intuitive. But that is the indicator. It’s just that bad.

While every day I hear new frightful numbers describing our recession, it felt like if you didn’t own a home, have a 401K, or weren’t laid off, this recession was something to watch from the outside, rather than fear. To some degree, my viewpoint was formed from my location – Silicon Valley. Having seen a regional recession with the dot-com bust of 2001, it felt like our communities were inoculated.

But sitting at Denny’s, watching a mother order her Grand Slam and take it to go, I realized that the economic crisis squeezes us all.

The friends I went to Denny’s with are all in their early 20s. Most of them haven’t been laid off, but this recession is just as harmful to them, because it is shrinking their futures, and there is a feeling there is little they can do about it.

One friend who ate with us dropped out of community college this week. Financial aid was not enough, and her English teacher mandated that all students buy their own books, rather then share. The cost amounted to hundreds of dollars. Her plan was to work, shore up money, and return to school.

Our other friend got laid off a week prior to Grand Slam day. Before that, she was the job hook-up for all of our other unemployed friends. She was the human resource staffer at a company that sold merchandise online. She carried a unique guilt in this troubled economy: she was the person that had to tell people in her company when they got laid off. Then it had happened to her.

She may have to drop out of school too, since at 20 she is completely self-supported, and needs to work to afford an education.

She’ll bounce back, and our other friend will return to school too, I hope. But what the economy looks like to me now is a fishbowl that we are all swimming in. And our fishbowl is getting smaller, shrinking our opportunities and possibilities.

This recession, I am told, is temporary, but the damage can be permanent in ways we may never even know. The education not received, the career path not chosen, the risk not taken.

I don’t know if other people are thinking about this moment the same way I am, but sitting in that crowded Denny’s, regardless of our station in life, there seemed to be a collective sense that no one should pass on a free meal.

5 Comments

  1. I have mixed feelings about your column Raj. On the one hand I know many employed folks are barely making it, and some that aren’t making it at all. I know many who are job searching who can’t get a job because employers don’t want to hire over qualified people, even though they know these people need to work to house, clothe, and feed themselves and their families. I guess the old saying that there are jobs for anyone who really wants to work, isn’t the norm any more. (Even temp agencies aren’t able to find jobs for over qualified people!)

    If people who have enough to make ends meet are taking part in free meals just because they are free, then I think that is wrong. (I am thankful that I at present don’t have an empty cupboard, so I did not go.)  I’ve watched people take free things at stores, or events I’ve gone to and toss em in the trash. I always wondered why they took them in the first place, and a friend of mine said,
    ” Because it is free!” Too many people of need should have attended this free food give a way, not those lucky enough to have money enough for food already.

    On a side note, on free Grand Slam Day, I wondered how many homebound people, seniors, and disabled folks could have used that free meal and had no help to get there. I saw lines of people at every Denny’s I drove by, and I saw more well off folks than elderly, or poor ones. I’ve got to say, that was a bit sad to me.

  2. Kathleen writes: “If people who have enough to make ends meet are taking part in free meals just because they are free, then I think that is wrong.”

    Why, exactly, is it wrong? Denny’s had a commercial on the Super Bowl inviting everybody to come to a Denny’s for a free Grand Slam. Lots of people, including me, accepted the offer. I do not feel guilty at all, I enjoyed the breakfast.

  3. Somewhere in thes moral equation should be the issue of Denny’s INTENT. It was, after all, Denny’s food that was being offered.

    Was it Denny’s intent to feed the hungry and homeless? No.

    Was it to get foot traffic in the door (with a hope for repeat business) in a challenging economy? Yes.

    So are non-starving, non-homeless people wrong for taking part in a marketing promotion? I don’t think so. No more than we are wrong for clipping cupons at the grocery store or eating a free sample.

    Should Denny’s perhaps do something to feed the hungry (my apologies to Denny’s if they already do this)? Yes, but then shouldn’t we all?

  4. Hugh,…simply put. It is “wrong” because it is a meal that could have been eaten by another for whom it more necessity than just a meal for “the cause of all things free”. I highly doubt Denny’s would run this promo in better times. Felonious? Of course not,…a personal ethics question really. Don’t feel guilty? So be it, it’s your business, but Kathleen has a valid point IMO…

  5. Hugh,
    I guess you and I see the world very differently. I’m glad you aren’t in a position to have to worry about where your next meal is coming from, and I have no real issue with you eating the free meal. As Reality said, it is just a matter of ethics for me. I didn’t go because I know that there are a lot of families that need it far more than I do.

    I have been helping my upstairs neighbors with food of late. All three are hard working, but with rent, low wages, and high costs of PG&E, they are barely making it. These are the kind of folks I think deserved that meal. But that is just how I see it.

    MC,
    You make some very valid points. I must agree even though I do so reluctantly. If Denny’s held a feed the hungry and homeless day, I’d be a customer for life. Any large company that would show that kind of compassion during these tough times deserves our support.

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