Fast food places at interstate highway exits are always open 24 hours. Nowadays, most supermarkets are, and nearly all WalMart supercenters. Staff are in there restocking shelves, so they might as well put a cashier in front, too, and make some money.
The first one I ever saw was Ladd’s Supermarket, in Salem, Oregon, in 1959, but I think there were a few in California then, too. At the same time there were still eastern states where it was illegal for a store to be open at all on Sunday, even in the daytime. I grew up in a midwestern town where, as late as 1990, grocery stores and restaurants were closed all day Sunday.
Almost never now, but there was a time when I worked 2nd and 3rd shift and back then, 24-hour places were a godsend. I could get groceries after work at 1 a.m.
College students also often keep weird hours, as do people who work in the service industry.
Grad school, college and a 5-6 month stretch of unemployment were the only times in my life when I regularly patronized late-night businesses.
Not necessarily because I was up at 2-3 AM often, but rather because my entire day shifted later in time. When I’m gainfully employed, I usually wake up 6-6:30 AM and go to sleep between 10:30-11:30 PM. When I’m in school or unemployed, it shifts to waking up between 8:30-9:30 AM (depending on when classes are), and going to bed between 1:00 and 2:00 AM.
So as a result, getting everything done before 9 pm seemed like kind of a pain in the ass, especially if I had night classes (6-9 pm), so I’d usually do it after class, which usually meant that I had to find a 24-hour place, or somewhere with extended hours.
Plus, there were always the “let’s go get tacos after last call” post-drinking meals.
In when I was younger I would often eat very late. My friends and I would stop at a diner well after midnight for food. In College I worked a job that ended at midnight and I would often stop for food on my home or order a pizza when I got home (Pizza places would usually deliver until 2 am). Now a days I try not to eat after 8 or 9 but back then? All the time.
When I was in college, I would stay up very late all the time…I did all my grocery shopping late at night when the store was empty, I made lots of food runs after midnight, etc. In a college town, I don’t think that’s super unusual. When I moved to the Chicago suburbs and worked 3-11 for a year after graduating, I realized that some towns shut down early…the number of places to get food after work was really limited.
Nowadays, I get to work at 8:30, so most of my shopping and dining out is done during “normal” hours…but there will always be a segment of the population (young people, shift workers, etc.) that prefer to do things late at night. If those places didn’t get much business in those hours, they’d probably stop staying open 24 hours.
At this point, even if I worked “normal” hours, I would go home first and go out to shop later or later on my days off. Once in a great while I end up at a grocery store or Target around 5-6 pm or during the day on a weekend and OMG I want to kill everybody. I really couldn’t handle the stupid on a regular basis. I like it with just me, maybe 5 other people and the stock guys. I’ll take walking around pallets of stuff over trying to get around other people, their kids, their carts, their chaos, any time!
When I worked evening shift, I’d sometimes grab something around 1:00 AM when I got near home. If I had to stay at work later, I’d need to grab something later.
Isn’t Jack-n-the-Box or Taco Bell running a series of ads now aimed specifically at late-night stonerism? I think they specifically mention “late night munchies”.
Taco Bell invented “fourthmeal” a couple years ago. IIRC the last JitB commercial I saw was pretty tongue-in-cheek-but-you’re-not-fooling-anyone and suggesting you’re baked when you buy this.
I have shopped late at night most of the past 15-20 years. Grocery shopping late at night without crowds is especially calming and convenient for me. I can’t stand crowds, not being able to park, waiting in long lines, navigating shopping carts with broken wheels through narrow aisles while people park their scooters in the middle.
When I was a teen/college aged in the late 90s, Wendy’s advertised being open late (1am!) and got a lot of business that way. Now, I think every major fast food place in my area has drive through hours until at least 2am, and all McDonald’s, BK, and Steak N Shake and some others are 24 hours. Though some chains that were 24 hours (and this applies to stores as well) actually cut back. For example, Tim Hortons were 24hrs and now are 5am-10pm. Kroger in my area used to be 24hrs but now closes 1am-6am. The first Walmarts I encountered were all 24 hours (some college years were spent just walking around Walmart for some reason), so I find it very bizarre when I come across one that ever closes.
I am not a stoner, BTW. While I work for myself, I have typical day time hours. I have to take kids to school and the older they get the earlier the schools start. So, I’m not on a late night or overnight work schedule or a bargoer/partier. I just like going out late occasionally for grocery shopping, post office runs, stuff like that. For the most part I only eat food I prepare at home. So I don’t really even take advantage of 24 hr Waffle House, IHOP, White Castle, Mcdonalds, etc.
I used to live near a 24hr supermarket. It was a lot less of a hassle to go shopping at 2am when the aisles are empty of self-involved dickheads blocking the way, and elderly people travelling at two steps a minute. Though there were a lot of shelf stackers too, that just meant there was fresh product on the shelf.
There are two veterinarian clinics here in my city who are open at night.
One is 24/7. The other is open about the same amount as other vets, but their hours are at night.
I used the 24/7 place once when my dog got a sliver of wood stuck in his gums, late on a Saturday. His regular vet will do emergency treatment, but it costs a lot extra.
I heard there’s a “nightcare” for kids too, for parents who work second or third shift and don’t have anyone to help care for their rug rats.
Yeah, all the time. The local Safeway is the only grocery store within a few miles and is surrounded by high-density housing. It’s insanely busy during normal business hours, so I frequently head there at 1 or 2 AM. And it’s still pretty busy.