yesterday! eating in paterson!

Yesterday, I left work and went out into the streets of Paterson, NJ to eat lunch. It was my first time eating lunch in real Paterson and not the cafe inside work.

I went to this bodega across the street to get sandwiches. I never knew places like that even existed. Inside the giant "ice cream" freezer were styrofoam cups filled with who knows what from who knows when and topped with soda cup lids. The turkey that went in my sandwich was almost definitely sold under the label "sandwich meat." Several times, people came in, gave the cashier a dollar in cash for 2 cigarettes at a time. There was also a man in a soccer jersey taking all the baked goods from the display case with his bare hands, returning with different baked goods--still in his bare hands--and putting them in the display case. Not only did I get to watch all this, but I also got a big and delicious sandwich for under $3. Awesome.