Lockdown a new twist for North Beach streets

Nothing like a morning walk through North Beach to get a feel for how San Francisco is handling the big lockdown.

No techies hustling down Columbus Avenue to work. No elderly Chinese practicing tai chi in Washington Square Park.

Even the pigeons were keeping 6 feet apart. But the place was still buzzing in its usual, slightly nonconforming way.

The first shot of the new reality hit me at Caffe Greco on Columbus Avenue, where I joined two other people in the spacecorrect line. The counter guys, both wearing latex gloves, cheerfully served up a “takeout only” cappuccino and then just as cheerfully showed me the door.

With cup in hand and a sunny sky overhead, I headed down the avenue, where I came came across a crew of telephone workers tearing up the pavement near Stockton Street.

Guess phone lines are still essential. And you can get twice the work done with no traffic.

A stone’s throw away on Stockton, a water department crew was digging up the street in front of North East Medical Services.

“It’s the third time they’ve done it this year,” the security guy at the medical center said.

Some things never change.

In the block between the two work crews, a row of restaurants sat empty. All had signs saying they’d be closed until at least April 7.

One exception was Mara’s Italian Pastry, which was doing a bit of sidewalk business selling coffee to workers milling around the front door.

“You guys don’t look like you’re following the 6foot rule,” I said.

“I’m following it,” said one burly hard hat. “I’m over 6 feet tall.”

“Over 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide, too,” joked one of his coworkers.

Right about then, an unmarked police car rolled up with three uniforms inside, two in front and one in the back.

“Hey,” I said. “You guys are definitely not 6 feet apart. Aren’t you afraid of the virus?”

“Are you kidding?” the cop in the passenger seat shot back. “This car’s already got every virus in the world, and then some.”

The slapdash application of the 6foot rule was really on display at Piazza Pellegrini.

“Yesterday the police told us nobody can eat their takeout at the outside tables,” said owner Dario Hadjian.

“So I asked, where are they supposed to eat? They said they can sit across the street on the park benches.

“Sit together on a park bench or at a table? What’s the difference? But that is what they say.”

The only store fully operational, but empty of people, was Cole Hardware on Vallejo.

I picked up two rolls of paper towels, two rolls of toilet paper and one bottle of cleanser, just to be safe.

“Do I get a senior discount?” I asked as the clerk rang up the $13.90 bill.

“Maybe,” the clerk said dryly. “You got proof of age?” Another wise guy. Like I said, in North Beach some things never change. Even in a pandemic.

On hold: The coronavirus has pretty much frozen the Democratic presidential race in place.

No rallies, no debates and no final word about Sen. Bernie Sanders exiting the race.

And I don’t expect to hear a final word for some time.

Sanders, however, does seems to have been knocked off center.

He didn’t jump at the chance to match former Vice President Joe Biden and say he would name a woman as a vice presidential candidate in last week’s debate. To my mind, that means Sanders isn’t on his game.

Meanwhile, the pandemic is really taking a toll on President Trump.

After three years of being able to call the shots and ridicule his opponents, Trump finds his presidency hanging on a disaster that has zero predictability.

The coronavirus crisis seems to have destroyed his bluster and his confidence. He is no longer flippant and is looking more and more like a guy who knows he could lose.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a bind as well.

Newsom loves statistics. He loves data. He can go on and on about probabilities of the virus spreading, about plans for money to be spent fighting the problem and the like.

But all those numbers only confuse people.

They expect talk about probabilities from experts. But they want answers from leaders. The want to know what they are facing and when it will be over.

And if you can’t tell them, you lose them.

The problem is, of course, is that this time there’s no answer.

His order for the whole state to shelter at home is his most definitive action to date. But I don’t think it will be the last.

Man, am I glad not to be a public official in this mess.

Viral: The virus has prompted a number of people to call and write me.

Erin Nolan Smith has been homeschooling her 6yearold daughter and 8yearold son. She tells me the experience has made her an advocate for teachers to be paid a million dollars a year.

And that’s after just one week.

And a buddy of mine, Frank Borges, former Connecticut treasurer, called to say he was selfquarantining on a small island off the coast of Cape Cod. “We have a month’s supply of everything,” he said.

“We have so much stuff that if they lift the ban early, I’ll able to open a Walmart.”

Want to sound off ? Email: wbrown@ sfchronicle.com

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images California Street in the Financial District had little of its usual daytime traffic during the week.