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Pedri: Discarded ballot probe not more widespread

Early-bird Thiem advances to 4th round at French Open

When I heard knocking and opened the front door, who should I find standing there with a big smile on his face but my good buddy Alner.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m famished,&rdquo; he sighed. &ldquo;Now that things are opening up again, let&rsquo;s hit one of the restaurants for lunch. What&rsquo;s your favorite?&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Give me a minute or two to decide,&rdquo; I said.
				Catching my drift, he cried &ldquo;Oh, no, not another trip&rdquo; and tried to flee, but was too far from his own place to escape me. Within seconds, thanks to my power of metaphysical travel, we were striding down a Wyoming Valley street of many years ago.
				&ldquo;I said I was hungry,&rdquo; he grumbled. &ldquo;Do they even have restaurants in this primitive era?&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Alner, you need some education in local gastronomic history. We&rsquo;ll be able to find just about anything you want. Let&rsquo;s say you&rsquo;re in the mood for fine dining. See that hotel over there? The hotels of the late 1800s and early 1900s had the most elegant food in town. If you&rsquo;re a beer fan, they&rsquo;ll offer you dozens of foreign and domestic brands to go with your dinner.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Did they have takeout windows? My stomach is rumbling.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;No, Alner,&rdquo; I said with a shake of my head. &ldquo;That hasn&rsquo;t been invented yet. But if you do want something a bit quicker, let&rsquo;s take a hike of a block or two.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Hey, look at the old train,&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Would I ever like to take a ride.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Maybe later,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Right now, we&rsquo;re going into the station to see their really nice lunch counter. You know, railroad stations had some of the best food in town. You could get a nice meal and talk with the passengers and crews until quite late at night.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Hotels and train stations,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Is that the aroma of steak and mushrooms?&rdquo;
				&ldquo;If that impresses you, take a look down the street. Here&rsquo;s what we used to call a &lsquo;five and dime.&rsquo; Good merchandise at good prices, but also the best lunch counters and fastest service you ever saw. Look at those working people on stools and in booths, dozens of them.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Ah &#8230; I smell cheeseburgers and fries,&rdquo; said Alner. &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t we stop and get something?&rdquo;
				&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t bring any old-time money, and I don&rsquo;t want us to be arrested as counterfeiters. Besides, we just have a few more places.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;This is torture.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Oh, there used to be lots of places where you could get a nice sit-down dinner,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Now here&rsquo;s something you don&rsquo;t see in our time &#8211; an ice cream parlor that also has a full lunch and dinner menu. Guess what you can&rsquo;t avoid ordering for dessert.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Guess what &#8211; I&rsquo;m about to keel over,&rdquo; said Alner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m famished. Can we just&#8230;&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ll admit past times weren&rsquo;t perfect. If you wanted pizza, you&rsquo;d probably have to go out to a bar with a good kitchen. No delivery! For Chinese or other ethnic fare, you&rsquo;d have to travel to a big city.
				&ldquo;I want my stomach to travel to &#8230;&rdquo;
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you what&rsquo;s my favorite. There were classic diners galore. Drugstores had soda fountains where you could always grab a sandwich and a coffee - just the thing before you head for the neighborhood movie theater.&rdquo;
				Within seconds we were back in 2020.
				&ldquo;So where do you want to go for lunch?&rdquo; I asked.
				&ldquo;Wherever we go, you&rsquo;ll have to pay,&rdquo; said Alner.
				&ldquo;Oh, how come?&rdquo;
				&ldquo;I think I ate my credit card.&rdquo;

Remember When: From elegant dining to diners galore