Part II: Donuts at Midnight?

I am happy to report that I was able to investigate the "Donut Shop Mystery" last night.  Here is how it went down:  I rode past the donut joint at 6:41pm (on the way to a meeting) and noticed that there were eight customers - four inside, four outside.  Not very common for a donut shop, but it was still relatively early in the evening.  I wondered how many people would be there when I rode past after the meeting.

The meeting went long and I wasn't able to leave until 10:30pm.  By the time I would go past the donut shop it would be 11:00pm!  The place would probably be closed and I wouldn't have an opportunity to see anyone there or find out what makes it a popular evening hang out.

As I approached the scene of the crime I was amazed to see that it was still open!  At 11:00pm, mind you.  And there were six people still there - one inside, five outside!  As I pull up I see a security guy in a golf cart riding around the shopping area.  I'm thinking he'll probably tell the guys it's time to leave so the place can close.  Nope.  He waves and continues on his way.

I try to blend in with the crowd and buy a donut, right?  I walk in to look over the donuts (that are probably nearly a day old).  A friendly older Asian woman asks me what I would like.

"How late are you open?" I ask.  Trying to hide my amazement.  "Are you open 24 hours?"

"No," she says, "We close at 2:30am."

2:30am?!?  I'm thinking, "Why bother closing at 2:30 if you have to open up again a couple hours later?"

"Will these guys still be here?" I ask.

She nods, "Maybe they're lonely." 

"Can I have one of the apple fritters?"

It reminds me of the theme song from Cheers.  "Everybody wants to go where everybody knows your name."  These guys just need a place to be.  A place to hang out.  They don't bother anyone and noone bothers them.  I don't understand why they picked this donut shop.  It doesn't look like they keep the place in business.  None of them had so much as coffee in front of them when I was there.  They were just smoking and talking about motorcycles.  (And staring at the idiot who bought an apple fritter at 11pm!)