SF.... Love it (and Hate it)

This last weekend perfectly illustrated for me all the greatness that was (and sometimes still is) San Francisco. And sadly - it brought moments that also perfectly encapsulated what has gone wrong.

Illustrating The Good

Walking up Market St between 16th and Castro and sashaying (quite literally) down the sidewalk towards me comes a shirtless bear on a 49er flag bedecked Segway blasting easy listening R&B from a boombox. The crowd goes wild.

All the smiling happy (sunburned) faces at the Pride Parade (which has truly become a celebration of love and welcoming - as well as an awesome party).

The trans-woman who I bumped into and apologized to in the Mission (it was CROWDED), who turned to me and said, "Honey... this is the one weekend a year you don't have to apologize for shit. It's all love baby!"



For the weekend it felt like the clock was turned back a bit. It felt like there was a little less homogeneity in the population. It felt less conformist again.

For the first time in years it felt like the culture of SF was once again Urban (rather than today's Suburban values dominance).

It felt like SF again. I'd move here all over again to be part of this San Francisco.



And The Bad

Scene: Three guys waiting for their Sandwiches at Bi-Rite in the Mission.

Guy One: You live near here right? You must shop here all the time.

Guy Two: Nah... not really.

Guy Three: Because it's too expensive?

Guy Two: Yeah... I mean, it's ridiculous. $10 for a turkey and cheese sandwich? Come on.

Guy One: So what do you do for lunch usually?

Guy Two: Oh, we use Instacart at the office and get them to bring us stuff from Whole Foods. It only works out to like $100 a week.

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