The New York City subway is often described as one of those rare places in American society where people of all walks of life - all ethnic and religious backgrounds and many different economic backgrounds - rub elbows on a daily basis.

Does New Jersey have any place like that? In our sprawling, often segregated state, I would argue the one thing that comes closest in much of the state is the Wawa.

And so on “Wawa Day” - the annual anniversary of the chain's founding 58 years ago - I went to Wawa. Not just for the free coffee they give out on Wawa Day but because again and again as a reporter I find it one of the best places to go to just talk to people. People of all walks of life, going out their business, carrying the stories of their lives.

The free stories are even better than the free coffee.