The Bill Nailed down/ 1950’s Remembered Pocitos diner

    Pocitos doesn’t awake until ten in the morning. My first time past the little diner on the corner, a block from the beach, the sign in the window says Cerrado. Doubling back, Albierto is now in its place. A plaque on the exterior says this establishment, in one form or another, has been open since 1910. A lot can go wrong in a century and surviving progress is not for sissies. Seated, I do a leisurely check of my E-mails, send a couple of text messages. My bill for a coffee and a small glass of water is seventy eight pesos. With a tip, the total is a hundred pesos, or somewhere south of five U.S. dollars. My bill is speared on a little nail, and, for a moment, seems to nail down Uruguay accurately. What we all want is 1950’s prices to come back.