3.09.2010

the poopy part of san francisco

We spent the weekend in San Francisco. It was mostly all sunshine and rainbows :-) Delicious food and drinkys, swanky hotel, lots of walking, window shopping, and people watching...

... But some of the trip was pretty poopy... quite literally.

I haven't decided if this is even funny or not, but it is most definitely gross. Consider yourself warned. OK, here goes...

So it all started when Joe and I were looking at renting a condo from a lesbian couple who were originally from San Fran. We asked them to recommend some "non touristy" places to check out, and they suggested Polk Street. I distinctly remember they said be sure to avoid *some part* of Polk Street, which I wrote down on a little piece of paper that I promptly lost.

Well, Saturday morning Joe and I are feeling all spontaneous and decide to head to Polk Street.

We're hip. We're cool. We're fresh. We ain't no tourists!

So we start walking south on Market Street... and walking... and walking... Now we're at Polk.

"Joe, seriously stop pulling that map out every few seconds... you'll blow our cover!!!!"

I'm so distracted by chastising Joe for his excessive map consultation that I hardly notice there are now bars on all of the windows.

We pass a smoke shop, a strip club, a liquor store, a condemned vacant  building, the 57th homeless person, a woman with oozing open sores all over her body moaning loudly in the threshold of a doorway...

We're REALLY in a bad part of town now. WTF... There was no warning on the map that said ghetto??

And then my tummy starts hurting. Bad.

Maybe I'm just sick to my stomach from the Crack & AIDS in the air feeling incredibly disturbed by all the sadness?? Nope.. that's not it.

"Umm, Joe... I need to use a bathroom."

"Well, honey..." (He pulls out his handy SF map for the seventeenth time.) "We have less than a mile until it should start cleaning up and then we can stop for lunch and use a bathroom."

"Umm, Joe, I have about 2 maybe 3 blocks in me."

Shit! There's nothing around... Now if I just had to #1, I would happily pop a squat in an alley with the rest of the San Fran homeless population.

*When in Rome* right?

However, I do not poopy in alleys.

Joe's walking faster than me now and almost doesn't see me duck into the Taco Bell on the corner. No, not because I am craving a 7-Layer Burrito. I have to go like right meow. I ask the cashier to buzz me into the bathroom. He informs me I'll have to use the men's room because the women's is "out of order".

Whatever, I'm not scurred. I've done my thing in plenty of men's rooms before. I open the door to the bathroom and immediately regret touching the door handle.

The overwhelming stench, OMG... There are blue plaid boxers in the trash... covered in shit. There is literally CRAP smeared all over the walls and there are turds... multiple pieces of human poop... on the floor. In fact, I just stepped on a piece of poopy.

Oh, my poor UGGS!!


You have got to be shitting me!

And the women's restroom is "out of order"?? WTF. What could possibly be worse than THIS?? I mean, short of someone having an abortion in there and clogging the toilet with the fetus, seriously.

I consider running away. Far, FAR AWAY. But then I realize that I probably won't make it without my undies ending up in a garbage somewhere.

I would be lying if I said I didn't seriously contemplate pooping on the floor. Really, it wouldn't have made any difference in the level of filth. However, I play the dodge the human feces game - like Hop Skotch, only more precarious - on my way to the toilet where I proceed to thank my lucky stars for CrossFit.

Yes, I'm an excellent squatter. Not even any splash-age, (thank God!)

No, I will not touch anything in this restroom, not even a seat cover (not that there were any to speak of)...

TMI yet?

Umm okay, I'll skip the rest of the shitty details. mwahahahaha.

But for your future reference, here is a little guide I made for you illustrating the Poopy Part of San Francisco:

*Made in Paint, yes I am skilled... cuz Photoshop is on my laptop for elitists. Click to enlarge and appreciate all the glorious details.

You're welcome.

Anyway, the rest of the day was all sparkles and rainbows and sunshine! Seriously. But this stuff is not nearly as exciting as a poopy Taco Bell.

Joe's "Crab Shack" at Fisherman's Wharf.

Homeless man "fishing" for change from a trash can.
Yes, I took a picture.

Funky car parked downtown.

PS: In case you were wondering, we have since learned that it is "not safe" south of California on Polk. I mean, for future reference and all... cause we just spent two hours of our life there last Saturday. No worries, we survived. It was a poopy adventure wonderful time. I would highly recommend it. To anyone.

19 comments:

  1. Ahhh! That is an excellent story...horrifying, disgusting, but excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Glad you were okay and did not catch anything! Eeesh :-S

    ReplyDelete
  3. The best shit happens to you...hahaha. I would have puked when I saw that bathroom.
    AND...I probably would have gone in an ally...I keep tissues in my purse, so I would have stuff to wipe with!
    LOVE THE MAP!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is f-ing disgusting. I had a beach house the year after college with all of my friends. We were at a bar and someone (who was hammered) went into our house, passed out and then shit all over it. Not kidding. There were pieces of poop in a shoe, in the shower, smears on the walls...Maybe I will blog about it one day. It was BAD.

    ReplyDelete
  5. and I would have gone outside or on the floor...

    ReplyDelete
  6. wow isn't that the shits! lmao. This post is hilarious!! like seriously - something straight out of NYC in the summer on a humid night. Or probably what i have to look forward for the next 6 days in DR. (& this is probably in a normal situation. EWWWWW) Any way....crack me up girl! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my GOD.

    Aborted fetus clogging the toilet... Maybe that was the week before. I am going to hell because I laughed really hard at that.

    I'm glad you made it out alive. That was quite the bathroom emergency. Are your Uggs okay?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh man! Good to know! Thanks for the PSA!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i threw up and laughed my ass off reading this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. LOL...I am dying! This was hilarious! Thank you for the map...if I ever go there I will be sure to print it out & take it with me! :)
    Abby

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh dear goodness this is hilarious. HILARIOUS.

    But really good to know b/c Mr. Smith and I are considering a trip to SF in the fall and I do not want to cross any of those safe-straight-to-ghetto lines.

    ReplyDelete
  12. HILARIOUS!!! Ashley's comment was perfect!!

    I can't believe this happened to you - but thank goodness for CrossFit!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. OMG girl, So CRAZY!! So funny! Hope you've had a great week ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh my goodness. Soooo crazy. I was cringing.

    And homeless people get really creative in SF. I don't know what it is about being there.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The worst part is that somewhere, somebody on the internet is aroused by this post. Seriously though, not me.

    SERIOUSLY!

    Shit.

    Oh, and I hope you gave the homeless fishermen some chedda -- he totally deserves it. You know, in the way a puppy deserves a treat, but still.

    ReplyDelete
  16. HAHAHAHAH - I just laughed out loud at this post! You are hilarious ;) Glad you survived!!

    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ugh. Nick and I went to San Fran a year and a half ago and visited Polk Street. Luckily Nick knew his way around because he went to dental school there. He says in many areas of San Francisco the "good areas" and the "bad areas" are right next to each other so you have to be careful when picking hotels, etc.

    This also reminds me of when I worked at TCBY in high school and what you described happened in the men's restroom. Guess who had to clean it up? So wrong. I mean, it was like someone had played in their feces. So disgusting. Maybe that's why I don't think changing baby's diapers is all that bad?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow. Just wow. I have no words. I laughed so hard reading this, and had my mouth open in shock and disgust- all at the same time.

    Love your map! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Can we please discuss how behind I am on my blog reading, and that I have only just now read this?!?!?! Awesome. I mean, not awesome...but awesome :)

    I <3 SF.

    ReplyDelete

Whatcha say.. whatcha sayyy?