the chip is at the ten o'clock spot and it's FINE, that's what gets me. you kept using it. some things just want to still be useful and you let it. also the guy at the end of the counter sounds like he has a Story and i hope he's okay

flat is correct, case closed. a hash brown with height is a tater tot with ambitions. also 'potato apology' is the best thing posted here in weeks and i'm stealing it

flat hash browns are the correct hash browns! my dad used to make them in the cast iron and smash them down with the spatula until they were basically lace. crispy edges are the whole point. also potato apology is killing me

pressed thin means more surface contact, more contact means more browning, it's not complicated. a tall one just steams the middle. the guy at the end of the counter is probably just a guy at the end of a counter.

he reads the paper menu even though he orders the same thing. thats it. thats the story

he orders the same thing and tern notices the menu thing and says 'thats it' like he didn't just describe a ritual. this man has a ROUTINE and routines are how people hold on, i'm fine about it. the chipped mug knows his order too probably

chip in a mug is a chip in a glaze layer, it's not going anywhere structural. keep using it. and yeah the guy's just a guy. everyone's got a preferred seat, i take the same stool at the shop every time i sit down to eat

the flat top runs hotter on the left so i slide them over there when they go on. edges go dark faster. thats the whole trick really

cast iron + spatula smash is a LOST ART, my dad did the exact same thing, he'd press them down until you could basically see the plate through the lace! and the hotter-left-side trick, the short order guy at the diner near us called it the hot spot and he'd never tell the new kid where it was. some things you just have to earn lol. pretty sure my mom still has that spatula in the drawer by the sink somewhere

worked a night flat top for two winters, the hot corner thing is absolutely real and no you do not tell the new guy. every griddle has one and once you find it you guard it like a parking spot.

also the guy reading the menu he already knows is the reason anyone keeps that job past 2am. regulars tip in change and you count it anyway. keep the mug.

glaze chip, not a crack, no leak path. i glued a mug handle back on with two-part epoxy years ago and it outlasted the mug's color. keep it till it quits on its own. and yeah shortorder's right, hot spot knowledge is trade knowledge, same as knowing which drawer sticks in a lathe.

regulars who tip in change and you count it anyway!!!! my nan had a chipped blue mug she would not part with, kept it in the back of the cupboard for years after it stopped being the daily one and just held onto it. some mugs are people to us, i'm normal about this. gearhead gluing a handle back on is the most romantic thing you've ever posted.

the mug is still the daily one. i emptied the change tonight and it was mostly dimes. he left the menu open on the page with the pie and didn't order pie. thats all i'm saying about that.

lurker here, ten years on night grill at a diner two towns over. the leaving-the-menu-open-on-pie-and-not-ordering-pie thing is not 'thats all i'm saying' territory tern, that's a guy leaving a door open. you don't walk through it, you just make sure the coffee stays hot near his end of the counter. also agreed on flat, thick hash browns are for people who don't know what a spatula is for

guy leaves the pie page open every night and never orders pie = the strongest power move in this thread, case closed. he's keeping the pie as a concept. you can't topple a man who orders coffee and reviews pie like a board member. also tern describing this as 'thats all i'm saying' after writing a whole novella about a chip in a mug is very funny

he only leaves it open on the pie page when the pie is the good one and not the frozen one. thats the detail. thats all, i'm going to bed

TERN. he's checking whether you know which pie is good. that's a test and also a compliment and i am going to lie down on the floor about it. also the mug being the DAILY mug still, i thought you'd retired it, i'm so glad it wasn't back of the cupboard territory

you two are reading a whole novel into a man reading a menu. but fine, if the pie page is a signal then it's a signal. coffee stays hot, mug stays in service. that's the whole actionable list. i'm going back to the lathe

the pie page test!! this is exactly like the mustard pump at the Ridgemont food court, the vendor KNEW who got the good pump and who got the clogged one lol. also my mom used to bake pies for the church suppers and she had one chipped mug she claimed was for 'coffee only' which meant nobody else could use it. sounds like your guy tern, mug in daily service, pie under review.

its not a test its a guy deciding about pie. i cleaned the chip with my thumb every time i washed it out of habit now. going for real this time

tern says 'not a test' in the same post where he admits he inspects the chip with his thumb every wash. that is a man maintaining a relationship with a mug, case closed. also 'concept pie' is going on my tombstone

i keep coming back to him leaving it on the pie page only when it's the good one. that's not a customer that's a reviewer with a chipped mug and dimes. somebody make him a slice without him asking, i'm begging from the floor of my front room

i'm not making him a slice without him asking. the pie is for whoever asks. that's the rule and it's a good one. also the thumb thing is just habit from washing it a thousand times, there's nothing to read into. goodnight for real