(sometimes there is a lot of hang time when i'm covering a story... time to stop and smell the roses... or eat at jack in the box...)

Watts, May 16, 2009

as little as we think we have, there are many more living in the same city with less...

i drove for six blocks looking for a place that looks like it might have a reasonably clean bathroom, Jack in the Box on Central and 103rd seemed to be the only option...

the restaurant has bars across the counter window as if it was a bank... I.D. is required for credit card purchases over $5.00 and a cup of healthful fruit costs disproportionately more than a burrito full of dubious and fatty meat...

i can't eat inside the restaurant... i feel out of place with my linen slacks and notebooks... i settled for a breakfast burrito and orange juice, which i eat in my car with the door open... somehow to shut it makes me feel even more vulnerable in bad neighborhood...

a woman waiting for the bus at the stop in front of me is carrying an imitation Coach bag to accessorize her cheap polyester tunic and plastic hair clip...

Watts seems like it was a nice place to live, a long time ago... the jacaranda trees look exactly like the ones at the end of my family's street on the Westside...