I’ve never seen one of these corner stores advertising “Fresh Vegetables”. Nice, that’s a very good thing… as is cold beer and wine for the record.
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bodega
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Check it out, you can now get 4 packs. Where there is a will there is way.
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Have you ever noticed that there is a bus that comes to 11th Street in Columbia Heights and goes straight to AC? I kind of feel like that is awesome. But then I have visions of the elderly sitting behind slot machines and losing lots of dough…
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Hold on I have to stop laughing for a second. Ok, this is a photo from my local bodega in Petworth (from the cell phone, c’mon I can’t always have my camera on me). At any rate, I was stunned and overjoyed to see that they were selling the traditional kosher wine Manischewitz. Manischewitz is the sickly sweet wine that every Jewish boy and girl knows all too well. Why it is being sold in Petworth that probably has a .05% Jewish population is beyond me. But the mere thought of someone slugging Manischewitz on the side of the road is simply beautiful. And a bit sad. I think this may be the only bottle of Manischewitz in the world that is located behind two inches of bulletproof glass…Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Manischewitz to drink.
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Good lord, I know this is going to get me in trouble but I observe, that is what I do. Anyway, I’ve been frequenting “Bless 7 to 9 Market” on 5th and Sherman and something struck me that wasn’t related to the food and beverage selection. By the by, they continue to stock 2% milk which is fantastic. Anyway, almost every time I visit there is a customer in front of me purchasing large numbers of lottery tickets. And by large I mean over 10 bucks worth. And, I just have to say it seems crazy to me. And then I talked it over with a friend who mentioned the history of running numbers in the city. So I looked it up on Wikipedia, which said:
“The Numbers Game or Policy Racket is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in U.S. cities, wherein the bettor attempts to pick three or four digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. The gambler places his or her bet with a bookie at a tavern, or other semi-private place that acts as a betting parlor. A runner carries the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a “numbers bank” or “policy bank”. The name “policy” is from a similarity to cheap insurance, both seen as a gamble on the future. “
So I wonder if the frequent lottery playing is a legacy of running numbers in Petworth? Does anyone know if they ran numbers in Petworth back in the day? Do you think there is any connection at all?
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Thanks to Gillian for alerting me to the snazzy new sign at the bodega on 5th and Shepherd. There is also a new sign for an atm machine. Good to know. Plus now you can get coffee there if you need your fix in a hurry.