Pharmaceutical companies 
Will talk about "front of store", 
But there was a time when most of them 
Had a "side of store" food operation. 
I can't say I ate there a lot, 
But everyone ate there at least a little. 

Food and soda counters were types of community, 
Small and intimate, 
With regular customers at regular times; 
And for that reason, 
An often famous place 
For social protests. 
They were a microrepresentation 
Of society as a whole. 

For that same reason, 
They came to be seen as anachronisms  
And have largely faded away 
With a few kept around as 
Historical curiosities peopled by 
My vanishing generation. 

Few places these days are 
Built on the same principle of 
Closely shared space that 
A drug store counter was; 
Which makes it harder to know 
Where we should stage our protests