The morning we headed back from our “Doctor Road Trip,” I decided to stop at the Waffle House® before hitting the road. If you are unfamiliar with Waffle House® let me lay out the scene: This, shall I say iconic, restaurant chain exists almost exclusively south of Nebraska. It began in 1955 and the design has not changed since, or so it appears. The front is generally all windows with an exterior that has the impression of a double wide and may very well have been rolled in ready to go. Generally, at least one lettered light is out at any given time on the tall sign out front, I suspect it’s a company policy.

All the food is cooked to order and all of the cooking is done right there, in front of you- if you’re sitting at the counter. Not Genji style. Diner style; with hashbrowns and eggs and steaks and burgers and bacon and waffles.

Now, if you have a kitchen, and I hope you do, and you’ve cooked bacon and sausage and hashbrowns and all of that good stuff, you may have noticed that grease tends to float through the air and cling to any spot it finds handy. Consequently, having an open kitchen may give an air of security to the consumer’s feeling of food safety, you know, by having your pork chops being prepared right there where you can see them fried up, however there are other effects to the overall ambience of the place. Mostly the grease