Spressa, a coffee shop on Cambon Drive in Parkmerced, gets its fair share of regulars who walk in to greet the owner, Jackie, by name. Greg Van Der Straeten is one of them.
On Tuesday morning, the 63-year-old was sitting drinking a cup of tea, chatting to Jackie, standing behind the counter, and his colleague, sitting a couple of tables over, reading the San Francisco Chronicle — like he does every day.
Van Der Straeten, a man with a black cap and sunglasses, and his colleague are caddies at the nearby San Francisco Golf Club, and were in for a quick break before their next shift.
“Even the obituaries,” he said, flicking through the pages. “I like reading about all these interesting people you’ve never even heard of.”
That, and staying up to date on current affairs. “She’s trying to bring panda bears to San Francisco, for $25 million,” he said, referring to Mayor London Breed. “Do we really need that?”
I asked Van Der Straeten about what does matter to him in the upcoming mayoral election, as I am watching the election in District 7 closely and following a mayoral candidate as well. “Homelessness,” he replied, and turned to me: “What are we going to do about that?”
DISTRICT 7 ELECTION COVERAGE
“I can afford to live here,” he said — albeit in modest conditions. Van Der Straeten lives at a hotel in the city and pays $200 per week for a room with a sink — with no kitchen or private bathroom. “It’s sparse,” he added.
He came to a rent-controlled arrangement with the hotel’s owners some 20 years ago, moved in from another hotel, and is still living there. Back then, it was already expensive, he said. Now, he is still feeling the pinch.
Van Der Straeten speaks English with a New York accent, and French with a Belgian one: He was born in Belgium and moved to the United States at 3 months old. He first came to San Francisco in 1996 to visit his brothe,r who was living here at the time. He was supposed to stay a month: “I ended up staying for 28 years.”
He kept flicking through the paper, and sighed. “I might end up voting for Breed,” he said. “I’ve got no better alternative.”
“Jackie should run for office,” Van Der Straeten said, referring to the barista.. “She knows everybody and everything that’s going on.”
And with that, the two caddies walked out to make it on time to the golf course. “Jackie, take care,” Van der Straeten said, cup in one hand, newspaper in the other.
Good, accurate article about myself, by Kelly Waldron. She’s easy to openup to in English or French and very sharp.
Great interviewer. Good luck in your career in journalism.
A good story. It’s a simple and nicely described story of an ordinary person living in SF for many years. It’s refreshing to find it in the sea of other big picture stories dominating our lives.
Thank you.