My mom was traveling out of the country and asked me to drive her to the airport, so I fired up my jalopy, and headed up to her town. The traffic was light, even for a Saturday. Taking the 880 can be a grind as there’s usually many pockets of gridlock, but today, the going was easy.
I got up to her house early, and loaded up my car with her hefty suitcases and we headed for lunch. She couldn’t find her water bottle, so I went to Safeway and found her a nice one at their Starbucks, but it was 24.95 and it later turned out to have a leaky top… so much for last minute shopping.
We’d planned to maybe get lunch in Oakland, but the water-bottle set us back on time, so we went over to 4th Street in Berkeley, found some decent free parking and walked to the Oceanview Diner (formerly Bette’s Oceanview Diner, pre-COVID). The wait was not bad for the popular eatery, and we go seated in about fifteen minutes, at a quieter table outside. I can shout with some of my family there, but with mom, it was nicer outside.
We both had the Vegetarian Sandwich: Avocado, roasted red bell peppers, marinated cucumbers, baby greens, and house-made vinaigrette on baguette for only $12.99 (I had mine on light rye bread); it arrived with a heavenly coleslaw, and I had iced tea. The sandwich was delicious, but I was unable to find a protein side, and the plethora of veggies had my stomach rumbling a bit.
Still, it was a light meal, not too filling, and very healthy. We weren’t rushed away from our table, and got going in plenty of time to reach SFO. The traffic over the bridge wasn’t bad either. Sometimes going through the city can be a slow and painful process. Cars weren’t going fast, but as a sometimes slower driver (yes, I stay on the right when turtling), it was just my speed.
We parked and walked a bit to the baggage check, and the woman told my mom she hadn’t paid for her second suitcase. My mom was sure she had, but got out her credit card. The airline rep kindly admitted her extra bag as a comped item and we were super thankful. Going on an international flight, does not inspire one to look for extra stress or expense.
I got her to the checkpoint and gave her two big hugs, and she made her way to through the airport. I retraced my steps back to the parking garage; it was a long walk, as her gate was about a half mile away from the baggage counter, in the new Harvey Milk Terminal 1. I’d never done so much walking when dropping someone off at SFO, but located my car and headed home.
It was good to see my mom, eat lunch and see her off on her trip. Back in my digs, I got to relax, pop open a cold orange soda, and relax with my family. Tomorrow was church, and then it would be time to go back to the grind. But I’m fortunate to love my job. The weekend isn’t over, and I’m enjoying the peace and quiet.
In closing, I saw this bumper sticker on my journey today, and it gave me a chuckle:
Positive Press 
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