PACO Y PEDRO … THE “BODEGA” KINGS
Almost every other corner in my ho metown -at least the older part of town where I lived- had a bodega. This is our term for the old-time neighborhood corner store. Where you went to buy the stuff you needed to create lunch or dinner, buy a quick Coca-Cola in the middle of a hot summer day, or where the guys went to have a beer and shoot the breeze at the end of a workday. Just prior to getting home, which was just a few short steps away. After all, it was the “bodega de la esquina” (the corner store). These weren’t fancy places. Imagine a wide-open front main entrance … and around the very corner, another wide entrance. After all, there had to be access from both sides of the corner, not just one. Basic marketing in motion. It also helped with the breeze on a hot afternoon. No air conditioning here… As you entered, there were barrels of the dry stuff along a very long, wooden counter, sitting on a very old cement floor. What was the dry stuff? Well, since you asked … rice,...