Craving Connection

Episode 126 - 

Picture a roadside diner, a cozy spot with booths and tables for four.  Inside the air is thick with grease and the smell of all-day coffee; there's the white-noise clatter of cooking and plates and silverware.  Then notice the lunch patrons, some sitting together, others alone.  The waitresses are taking orders, joking and smiling.  It's a familiar scene all over America, a routine acted out by millions daily.  And then, there in this diner, picture Ben sitting off at a table on his own - doing one of his favorite things.

Ben is the adventurous social scientist analyzing the wildly commonplace for this episode, as Chad interprets the scene to see if he can cover Ben's claim to have a found a phenomenon worth capturing.  The two ponder the potential significance of men taking meals in restaurants alone.  What about the familiarity and routine of stopping at a diner to eat can be comforting and almost therapeutic?  Is there anything superficial, or even sad, about men regularly taking lunch alone at a restaurant?  How could the communal setting of a diner or coffee shop indicate a craving for connection for those who make a habit of going?