It’s tough to get up at 5 a.m. when you have nowhere to be until six. Especially when the six is followed by the letters “p.m.â€Â It’s not like I had a part-time job to wake up for — not in this economy, at least!

But I did it. I got up bright and early Tuesday morning, because all my poor friends and I were trying to beat the crowd at Denny̢۪s.

Now, before you say “heard it before,â€Â and flip over to the sports page, consider this: the Denny’s story beat out 12 homicides, potentially deadly fog and a pungent cow-poo smell Tuesday night for the front page of Wednesday’s Fresno Bee. It was the biggest thing in the Valley.

Anyway, we didn̢۪t beat the crowd. The line was out the door and around the corner when we got there.
It was cold, and there was a shady-looking homeless guy standing next to us. We considered leaving, but decided we better not: the food in our apartment isn̢۪t free.

After 15 minutes in line and with 30 more to go, something happened. We were still cold, still hungry and were surrounded by other strangers in the same circumstance, but it happened nonetheless: it started to get fun.

We started making jokes about telling our grandkids in 2065:

“Waaaaaaay back in the recession of 2009 I stood outside a Denny’s for two hours in the freeeeeeeezin’ cold!â€Â

“…Granpa, what’s Denny’s?â€Â

“They did a commercial for the Super Bowl and gave out free breakfast for everybody in America who showed up one morning.â€Â

After a while, reporters from local news channels showed up and directed cameras to us. Everybody started cheering and dancing. My roommate was even interviewed live on CBS 47 news.

Everytime they would let a new group inside we’d all say “Heeeey,â€Â and excitedly move up a few inches. The homeless guy in front of us got his turn, and then we finally had ours. We clapped when they brought our food and ate in satisfied silence.

Once I got home, I realized that, regardless of money, I had a lot more fun at that bread line stunt than I did during any normal breakfast.

Everyone there came cold and hungry, some were obviously from the streets, and many said it was their only opportunity to eat out in the last three months. Regardless, we were all there together, and everyone made the most of it.

As more people are feeling the effects of the recession, hopefully we̢۪ll get more chances like this one to appreciate what we̢۪ve got and actually enjoy ourselves.

Who knows? Maybe racism, bigotry and whatever else can be curtailed just a little by our economic difficulties. Even if it means standing outside a Denny̢۪s at six in the morning, looking like an idiot.