Stranger in a Strange Land

I'm sure I'll be in San Francisco again, at some point. So while I had originally entertained the thought, an evening/afternoon trip into downtown seems a meek priority at this point. So here I am, stuck at a crappy airport hotel, ready for a bright and early departure for downtown in the morning, to pick up my rental car.

But I have to eat, since all I've had today so far is lounge food, and airplane galley food, and my computer clock says it's 7PM; OK, adjusted, now it says 4PM. My choices in this barren semi-corporate area under the roar of Air France 747s, are... Chili's, or a 1km trip to a mall. Mall it is; at least there's a Barnes & Noble, which usually means a Starbucks, and a food court. And the BART station is there as well which I will need to take tomorrow.

I realize that besides Sears, Target and Barnes & Noble, I don't recognize any stores except a few by vague name awareness. I don't "mall shop" in Toronto so I'm completely lost in the weeds over here. Books stores are universally recognizable and browseable, so I spend some time in there. I prefer Chapters and Indigo; both for choice and layout. Oh well, indeed there is a Starbucks, so latte in hand I wander to the food court.

I apparently cannot understand Latina/o English. Ordering my dinner from "Green Salsa" was a confused babble of "sorry, what?" from my side of the Lexan sneeze guard. Oh well, my extra large quesadilla turned out fine, though pricey ($10 for Mexican fast food? maybe I ordered all kinds of extras..) Now munching away, it's early Saturday evening and apparently that's when teens head out to the mall -- or maybe they're always there. It's hard to describe, but the "mix" is certainly different that in Toronto.

Toronto and San Francisco; Canada and the US. So similar yet so different. Some evidence of tough times at this mall, with more than a few storefronts shuttered. Emerging back into the parking lot I was greeted with what is a surefire San Fransisco memento... Sun pouring through fog -- that coarse, heavy, cool wet mist best described in French by the term "brume" that you feel as you walk through.