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I replied to a post re Denny's and the hours spent there in college earlier. That made me think about another restaurant in my college town. A "pay what you can" restaurant.

For decades before I went to college in the 90s, a little old lady had a restaurant that was attached to her home. She was in her 70s by the time I got to college. It was like a large cafeteria style addition to her home that seated around 75 people.

Many moons before, she started cooking meals for hungry and poor college students in Appalachia.

At some point, she made it a "Pay what you can" restaurant. It was home cooked, real food. The only drink was water, coffee and tea.

I remember eating many meals there when I was in college. Sometimes I had very little to pay, sometimes I had more and overpaid the suggested price.

There was no cashier. You went through the line, got your food, ate and on the way out there was a "Pay what you can" wooden box.

Many locals of all ages ate there because the food was so good, not just hungry college kids. It was open from like 11am to 4pm. Many students would step in the back and wash dishes, by hand, for 15 minutes or so after eating.

There was no loitering allowed, it wasn't a study hall, etc. There was no religious angle. It wasn't a "soup kitchen." After you ate and you left.

That always made an impression on me and actually was the first step into having a progressive, compassionate political stance.