Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Fresno Amidst the Shutdown

The downside of Frenso's go-bootstrap-yourself vibe is that the decrepitude and degeneracy begins to grate on you after a while. The whole place begins to seem like a looney bin, barely hanging on.

The Tower District is quaint but in the stark light of day, on the narrow sidewalk you will walk lonely blocks having to detour around homeless as if auditioning for a horror movie.

At the Starbucks there, a homeless or semi-homeless man in a wheelchair sits by the door, opening it like a doorman for everyone comin in or out, as if it's a high end hotel.

I can't bear to go in. I drive up to the Fig Garden Village up on Shaw. So beautiful. It is enclosed lifestyle village. All the quaint necessities of life, all new. New cars. Smooth parking lot. A Whole Foods brimming with pumpkins out front. The Starbucks there in the morning is "resume central" for Fresno---the place job seekers go to polish their c.v.s to placement on line. It has a long wooden table with power outlets.

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