Where It All Goes Down
Pathetica… We mean, Pacifica, CA
Quick—picture the most dead-end, economically depressed, suburban town you can think of. Give it a few strip malls with stores that are either going out of business or should have closed a long time ago, and make sure it only has one high school, where the people who bully you can bully you for four solid years. Now imagine that it's thirty minutes from a major city, but millions of miles away in terms of clothes, music, and attitudes.
That's Pacifica, a town that hangs forlornly just outside San Francisco, and it's the perfect setting for a life as dismal as Deanna's. When Deanna meets Michael, her boss who has inexplicably decided to stay in Pacifica, she asks him, "You're, like, an adult with freedom and money, right?" (5.116). Michael defends Pacifica this way: "It's got everything: the beach, a video store, Safeway, rent I can almost afford. It's quiet, but I can be in San Francisco in half an hour anytime I want" (5.121).
It's not an exciting life, but for someone who doesn't need excitement, Pacifica might be okay. However, for Deanna—whose reputation has been ruined there—Pacifica is pretty much the armpit of civilization, and her run-down, beat-up house is the capital. Of the armpit. Oh goodie.
Deanna's house and Picasso's Pizza are smaller, more focused symbols of Pacifica's generally depressed nature. Both are dark and dismal and run-down, and they're the places Deanna spends most of her time. Well, alongside Jason's house, which is also run-down.
P.S. Pacifica is a real place. In fact, Shmoop has been there, and we think it's quite nice. Just remember that we're reading about the fictional version of this town.