Longtime friends Leslie (left) and Karla wind up their afternoon chat, after expounding on the merits of love over Bi Rite ice cream cones.

Bi-Rite Creamery, 3 p.m.

It’s one of those sun-shining, birds-chirping, let’s-fall-in-love February days we’ve been having. Leslie and Karla, two old friends, are talking and enjoying ice cream cones on the bench. Linda joins in.

On love:

Linda: It’s biology and then it’s culture! There’s physical needs that everyone has! That’s why there are 6 billion people on the Earth instead of 100,000! And then the culture turns it into love!

ML: So you think it’s a crock?

Linda: No.

Karla: [gesturing toward a young couple sharing their ice cream] Those look like people in love. Maybe you should go talk to them, instead!

ML: What’s the best advice you’ve gotten on love in your life?

Karla: I’m thinking of my father, who said, “I’m not telling you to be a streetwalker…but it does help.” He literally used those words.

ML: Any advice you’d give a young person about love?

Leslie: I think there’s probably more than one person out there for anyone.

ML: What about you, Karla? Any advice for the young and single?

Karla: I’m old and single! I need more advice than someone who’s young and single!

ML: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for love?

Leslie: I probably ended up living in San Francisco because of Dan. I was living in Boston when I met him. It was a little bit like jumping off a cliff. I had no job prospects. I didn’t know what the future would hold.

ML: But it all worked out?

Leslie: It all worked out.

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Christine Mai-Duc, a political reporter and foodie from Sacramento, got lost on her first walk through the Mission-not only in the barrio's backstreets but also in its cultural fabric. It landed her on the porch of those elusive Mission locals who know Philz- the man instead of just the coffee landmark.

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