Ralph's on Front and G Street

   My favorite spot to people watch is on Front Avenue and G Streets. Streets that cross Broadway are called Avenues since the San Diego City Fathers needed San Diego to have an identity. They wished to compete with New York's Fifth Avenue. The Original Ralph's takes up the city block on the south east corner of the street. It is hard to miss.
    When I first moved to San Diego, I hung out at a coffee shop at the above intersection. The corner is one of my sights not to miss. I sat with a mocha drink and watched the endless parade. Most of the Asian gals wore high heals shoes taller than their frames. They were thin, terribly thin compared to the whites and blacks who entered Ralph's Market in the late afternoon.
   The homeless, wheel chairs, beggars, and walking dead hung out there. Just one second. A homeless one is coming in my direction. The black man missing most of his teeth asks me a question.  "What is it that you want?" 
  "I see a Macintosh apple has fallen from your bag. Do I have your permission to pick it up?"
   "Go right ahead sir. It does not belong to me, it belongs to God. Where are you going with your sack of cans?"
   "I need to go to go to a recycle center to exchange them for money. I came here to San Diego many years ago and fell in love with the climate. Unfortunately I also fell in love with beer and wine."
   This tall angular man shuffled over to the trash bin. He placed his hands inside but they came up empty. Recycling is a main hobby for the street people.
   Unlike the others, I waited for the light to turn red before going into Ralph's for my blood pressure reading. The machine then was always on the blink, till two years later when they bought-because of my complaints-a ten thousand dollar machine called Stay Healthy. Then my blood pressure read 170/120. Today it is 120/80.
   Why I will always remember the first time I used the Ralph's blood pressure machine, next to the pharmacy. Two years ago,while waiting to use the corner monitor, a  thin man jumped off of his bike and sat beside me. He seemed friendly and spoke to me.
"How ya doin sir? My name is Singleton, but you cin call me Reggy."
 "Well my blood pressure is quite high and I come in to make sure I am still among the living." He smiled and talked to me like a father.
 "Ten years ago I was diabetic with minor heart ailment. My doctor told me to rid myself of sugar, salt and coffee...Not only did I listen to him, but I also got rid of my major cause of it. I left my wife. As long as I kept her pregnant, she was no trouble. When the eleven kids left the house, she made life miserable, so I left her...I got to go now, I have a doctor's appointment on Third Avenue."
 I met him again about two months later. He told me like his own Dad, he retired from one of the Naval piers. My blood pressure had come down a bit, ever since I had two abscessed teeth removed.
   Mr. Singleton returned a few weeks later and told me he had worked on one of the Naval piers, just like my Dad. My blood pressure slowly came down after I had two abscessed  teethe removed. Also, I do eat meat once a week, but buy their greens in the produce department. (More to come  later)