When I was on the way to Vietnam in 68, I had a couple of days to kill before my flight from Travis(AFB). Somebody talked me into going into San Francisco. We ended up on Broadway Street, with place after place of stripers, bars., etc. I was enthralled. I could hardly believe it. My joke was that I had only been wearing shoes for a year or two and here I was suddenly in Sodom and Gomorrah.
The truth is that I was just out of Seminary and to say I was naive isn't even close. I was just speechless. We went in one bar and my buddy ordered a beer. I got a Coke. Heck, I was a Southern Baptist even. The bartender asked to see our IDs. With the old ID, across the back of mine was a big "Cross" that said Chaplain. The bartender held up my ID and said, "Hey look everybody, we got us a priest." I could have died. I wanted to get out of there ASAP. I gave the scantily clad waitress a twenty. I never saw her again. I could hardly believe she kept my $20.
Regardless, that experience, began my love affair with San Francisco. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. I can't leave it. Relatively speaking, I never have.
EVERYTHING CHANGES. San Francisco has changed, probably several times. Back in the day, it was a place where you could count on running across two or three characters on every street corner. San Fran has seen the hippies, the "Beat Generation," whoever they were. They have known the Pranksters, the jokesters, the "Summer of Love." (Us vets would love to have been on Haigh Ashbury rather than dodging bullets in the Nam.)
Now the techees. What has happened in the present is different, I think. Technology has brought money. Mostly in the City (the locals call it The City). It was the late Herb Cain, a newspaper columnist, who made it a crusade to call it San Francisco/or The City. Sometimes just to be obstreperous, I will call it Frisco which the old timers did.
MY TAKE. It looks like San Fran has lost the artists. Greed has run them off. The Board of Supervisors (Town Council) appear to be pretty impotent and offer no real help. When I first got here, what was emphasized were the neighborhoods. In reality, Frisco is just a bunch of little neighborhoods stuck together.
It is hard to know how many of the techies will stick. I think lots. The money will drive out some. But, many non techees will figure it out. I hope so anyway. Regardless, FRISCO ain't going nowhere.
The truth is that I was just out of Seminary and to say I was naive isn't even close. I was just speechless. We went in one bar and my buddy ordered a beer. I got a Coke. Heck, I was a Southern Baptist even. The bartender asked to see our IDs. With the old ID, across the back of mine was a big "Cross" that said Chaplain. The bartender held up my ID and said, "Hey look everybody, we got us a priest." I could have died. I wanted to get out of there ASAP. I gave the scantily clad waitress a twenty. I never saw her again. I could hardly believe she kept my $20.
Regardless, that experience, began my love affair with San Francisco. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. I can't leave it. Relatively speaking, I never have.
EVERYTHING CHANGES. San Francisco has changed, probably several times. Back in the day, it was a place where you could count on running across two or three characters on every street corner. San Fran has seen the hippies, the "Beat Generation," whoever they were. They have known the Pranksters, the jokesters, the "Summer of Love." (Us vets would love to have been on Haigh Ashbury rather than dodging bullets in the Nam.)
Now the techees. What has happened in the present is different, I think. Technology has brought money. Mostly in the City (the locals call it The City). It was the late Herb Cain, a newspaper columnist, who made it a crusade to call it San Francisco/or The City. Sometimes just to be obstreperous, I will call it Frisco which the old timers did.
MY TAKE. It looks like San Fran has lost the artists. Greed has run them off. The Board of Supervisors (Town Council) appear to be pretty impotent and offer no real help. When I first got here, what was emphasized were the neighborhoods. In reality, Frisco is just a bunch of little neighborhoods stuck together.
It is hard to know how many of the techies will stick. I think lots. The money will drive out some. But, many non techees will figure it out. I hope so anyway. Regardless, FRISCO ain't going nowhere.
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