The Wild, Wild West

"The Wild, Wild West" refers to the Mexican dance scene in San Francisco. As the vignettes (a small, graceful literary sketch) unfold, you will understand how the dance scene got it's name. I started out as a salsa dance snob, as many salsa dancers are, even if they learned to dance salsa from lessons and can't keep a beat. But, being Mexican-American, I finally found my way back to the place of my ancestors, The Wild, Wild West, which is located in the Mission District of San Francisco of course. I have to give my sister her props, though, for dragging me off to her dance place, which later became my weekend hang-out. At first I'd go in on a weekend night and hang out facing the bar with my back to the dance floor, and the men. My sister, and our friend, Chaparra (Spanish for short. And by the way, Chaparra's taller than both my sister and me.) would say to me, "You're never gonna meet anyone with your back to them." At that time, I didn't care. I could see the men through the mirror behind the bar, and I didn't see anything interesting. Until, one day, as I was trying to get to the bar through the crowd, I spotted him. He later was given the name Number 1, for obvious reasons. There he was tall, black eyes, black hair, mustache, cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a black leather jacket. Hay dios! Our eyes riveted together, both struck by a bolt of lightening, I was hooked. Here I was in the Wild, Wild West at a dance place that my sister called "The End of the Line." That's not it's given name. It earned that name by being the last place you'd go to at the end of the night, after a few drinks, because it was on the way home and nothing else exciting had happened that night. Plus it's as far as many Mexican's will go on "the Mule," the bus that runs through the Mission District (or the 14 Mission bus). But, the End of the Line offered us the definite possibility of dancing. Men in the Wild, Wild West still ask women to dance by offering them their hand. They never take "no" for an answer. And, they will frequently offer you a drink. So, as you can see, when all else fails during your night on the town, the End of the Line is a good place at which to end up.