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Alice In Tenderland: Part 1
There’s been plenty of attention to the new Disney / Tim Burton collaboration of L. Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Although there are many ways to interpret Alice’s “journey” of distortions, I imagined a little version to go something like this:
“Alice”, rather that falling down a “rabbit hole”, comes up from the BART/Muni Civic Center station underground, into the neighborhood of SF’s Tenderloin. She’s considering becoming a volunteer at St. Anthony Foundation, though still a little nervously entertaining some of the stereotypes of the neighborhood that she’s heard. Her first surprise is the bustling Farmer’s Market in United Nations Plaza. Wonderful aromas of fresh greens and flowers draw her into the crowd of shoppers speaking languages from all curves of the globe. Alice can’t resist a sampling of honey tasting at one booth, and with an added sweetness makes her way across McAllister St, up Leavenworth to Golden Gate where she sees about a dozen or so toddlers gathered on the corner. All of them are giggling with each other as they get ready to cross the street with their teachers from the Head Start Program. “My goodness!” thinks Alice, “children in the Tenderloin!” (Yes, the Tenderloin is home to many families, with members of all generations, many of them first generation immigrants). As Alice rounds the corner, walking East on Golden Gate, she walks past St. Boniface where she sees the tail end of a growing line of folks. “Can you tell me where St. Anthony’s is? “ she asks a tall fellow with a guitar strapped to his back. “You’ve found it, “ he smiles. “This is the line for the St. Anthony Dining Room”. He gives her a small bow, and adds – “Care to join us for lunch?” Alice smiles widely: “Thank you for your help! I’m here to volunteer.” The gentleman points toward the staff person handing out the numbers to enter the line: “She’ll tell you who you need to talk to”.
And so begins, a journey into “Tender-land” for Alice…not anything liked she’d imagined! “I wonder if some of the things I’ve heard about this neighborhood might be a bit biased or distorted.” Puzzled and hopeful, Alice signed up for a Volunteer Orientation.
