Pelican Cafe Essays and Blogs - One of My Favorite Armpits


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One of My Favorite Armpits

By Paul Lyons

12/5/2007 10:12:57 PM | Number of Comments: 0 | Add Comments +

Near where I live in the Excelsior District, down on Mission Street is a corner that is perhaps the skuzziest spot in San Francisco. It is the intersection of Mission and Brazil. The grime is so pressed into the pavement with the stomping of feet, it is like a new kind of soil. In the future, the flu vaccine will simply take a small part of this pressed matter, inject it into your system and you will never catch the flu ever again for the rest of your life.

There are two Asian fish markets. Both could care less what putrid fishy smells come out of their front doors. The fish is good and often still swimming in the tanks in the windows though you must buy with a keen street-sense. There is a Philipino restaurant that must be like those in Manila. The lumpia is cooked in large pans of hot grease. The eatery is not much larger than a closet. People eating there seem to be sitting in a train boxcar. They relish the meals as though they are eating at home; it must be a sort of soul-food connection. A few stores down is Princess Bakery, definitely a family operation as many generations are there to bag your muffins, cakes and cinnamon rolls when you check out. Lotto tickets and bad coffee seems to be staples as well though the baked goods are excellent and really cheap. Many commuters make this their breakfast stop.

Close by is the bus stop for the Mission 14 and other lines that make their way like herds of buffalo downtown. Always busy with waiting passengers, it is one of those bus stops where the sidewalk is covered with a mosaic of gum, cigarette butts and grime so permanent the city has given up on maintenance long ago. It is mostly poor, hardworking folk who ride the Mission 14 from this far out. Going into town to do the dirty work of a too-fancy city. The sidewalks around here tell a long story of use but have little political voice with the city’s maintenance crews. Steam cleaners know the places where most often tourists venture. Few venture this far out.

On the other side of the street in a former bank building made of stone is El Chico Produce #1. El Chico is a typical Latin Produce market. Great deals on limes and mangos. Avocados at a bargin. Many kinds of apples. Berkeley Farms dairy. Many items from Mexico on the shelves. Perhaps the best thing about El Chico Produce is the butcher. All kinds of beef, pork and fish. Some already marinating behind the glass. Your order can be cut to order. As you wait in line, tossing a few more tomatoes in your basket, eyeing the fresh tortillas as a possible extra purchase.

Of course every armpit needs a check-cashing place. I never use it but if I need to cash a check with a big fat surcharge, I know the place.

My favorite armpit. Mission and Brazil. Keeps me out of Safeway and away from the mall.

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