"Man on the corner of Third and Newcomb right in the heart of H.P.!"

Seriously. Not the smartest idea I've ever had. Nope, not at all. Although, I know Rappin 4 Tay loved the "Player's Club" down here, I didn't have time to stop and take a look. In fact, pulling out my iPhone to take this picture made the fact that I was sticking out like a sore thumb, even more ridiculous. Seriously, the stories you hear about Hunter's Point are exactly as they are in real life.

Now, having grown up in unincorporated Hayward and currently living in the heavily Latino community that is considered "El Corazon" of the Mission District SF, I thought I was prepared to handle what was going on down 3rd Street South of Cesar Chavez. Safe to say I was wrong.

Maybe it was the yellow knock off wayfarers I've been running in to block the wind from drying out my contacts. Or more plainly, maybe it was the fact that I WAS RUNNING THROUGH HUNTER'S POINT. Sheesh. Idiot. It was strange though, the deeper I went in, the deeper I wanted to explore - but at the same time knew I should be getting my ass the fuck out of there. Really not the dilemma I'm making it out to be. LEAVE! DUH. It was like a dare, but one that I put myself up to. Anyway, I finally made it to the top of some hill so I could take a picture of where I was and the area that is Hunter's Point since I'm betting 99% of you have never been there and will never go.

Looks like any typical SF neighborhood, right? Huh. Yeah. Not quite. The big intersection down the hill is 3rd Street. Just running this single block I had people staring at me like I was either really, really dumb, or really, really an undercover cop. Once I turned on 3rd, it was like Barbershop, Friday After Next, and Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood all converged just for me. Women outside liquor stores with pajamas and socks on at 5:30 in the afternoon/evening; people blatantly stopped in the middle of the intersection for lengthy "conversations"; there was even an infant pushing a stroller with another baby in it. Not sure where the mom was, but certainly didn't have the huevos to take the time to figure it out.

These are not stereotypes. These are actual things I saw with my own two eyes. 'Luckily', 3rd Street is the main thoroughfare in this part of town and I was able to quickly make my way back to more familiar grounds and get my stupid ass home. On the way I did find something rather familiar (and if you've been following the blog, you'll notice it too).

Yup. Metro PCS is super serious about this $40 plan thing. Not "$40-ish, $40! GOD DAMMIT!" I'm not sure I like their strong arm tactics, but if it was either switch to Metro PCS or hang out in Hunter's Point through the night, I'd have no problem switching and would gladly pay a whole lot more than forty buck.