A Cross-Cultural Denny’s Breakfast

I used to be an overnight waitress at a twenty-four hour Denny’s in Portland, Maine—not recommended to those who are under-employed, by the way. The menu featured hearty breakfast items, including the coveted Sizzlin’ Skillets which contained tons and tons of pork (specifically bacon, sausage, ham and Canadian bacon).

All of the truckers who came in at 5 am before hitting the road ordered the Sizzlin’ Skillets, except this one guy who would just order pancakes. One day I asked him why he didn’t get one of the Sizzlers like all the other guys. “It’s because I’m Muslim,” he said.

Well, I had an idea, so I went out back and asked our cook, Tim, if he thought it was alright to make a Sizzler with a ground-beef hamburger instead of the usual porky lusciousness. No prob.

At least while in Portland this Muslim trucker dude could get a Sizzlin’ Skillet with the rest of his pork lovin’ buds.