A few weeks back on a Friday evening, my friend group gathered for a night of pizza and movie. We did so at one friend’s apartment, of course - who wants the hassle of actually going out? I haven’t done pizza and movie at a restaurant and theatre since high school. The local Century theatre had a Round Table Pizza right next to it. Back when we can barely scrape together enough cash for food and film. Funny how that works: the age I most want to go out and do stuff is precisely the age I don’t have any of my own money at all.
Thanks, mom and dad.
Nowadays I rather spend a Friday evening staying in. That said, we still have to physically go buy the pizza to-go. We went to this particular joint nearby in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. As the kids would say these days, the Haight was “lit” on a Friday night. The restaurants and bars were teeming with people celebrating a fortuitous start to the weekend, after a long week at work. I quite dig that atmosphere, even though I’m not keen to partake.
And neither are my friends. We were never the type to go out to bars on a Friday evening. I for one seldom drink alcohol, and loathe to spend money on the marked-up stuff in bars. Secondly, the parking situation in areas such as the Haight is rightfully horrendous. I’m the type that doesn’t like going to places where parking is difficult to find (there aren’t parking garages in these residential neighborhoods). Though I guess it should be easier, now that UBER is a thing? Or maybe not: there’s also an increased cadre of food delivery people.
Indeed we could’ve had those pizza delivered, but we’re one of the few (?) who still prefers to go pick up to-go food orders. The delivery fees attached to services like Doordash and Grubhub are outrageous. Just as I don’t like to pay mark-up on alcohol, I also don’t like paying mark-up on food. Besides, the way to do it is have your friend double-park the car while you go inside the restaurant to pick up. Teamwork!
Not the tree of Gondor.