Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Among the Heretics

by Skald

Restless night downtown... sounds of drunks and sirens woke me frequently.... yet strangely happy to be among the mess of humanity. The suburban quiet in south of Mission was killing me.

Now Im where I belong, among the homeless, drunks, weirdos, freaks, and lonely souls. And so the city is growing on me. While this is America... there is something different about this place. SF in some ways seems to be its own little city-state-- far, far removed from realities in Georgia. In SF we've got legal pot clubs, and the most diverse population Ive ever seen in the United States.

Is it a coincidence that the Bay Area is a super-charged economic dynamo of innovation? That the cutting edge tech sector calls it home?

I doubt it. Diversity is SF's power source. Strolling its streets, I hear more foreign languages than I hear English. I see more Asian, Latino, and "Black" faces than "white".


At least there is one such place.

2 comments:

Ryan Garou said...

Good to see you're starting to look towards the positive there.
Stay away from the Financial District, nothing for the under-$80k-a-year set there, unless you enjoy getting nearly run down by some jerkoff in a Lexus illegaly cutting through crosswalks to shave 2 seconds off his commute.
Tenderloin and surrounding areas should be entered only as necessary for cheap eats (check out Bageutte Express on Larkin sometime, just be careful not to step in any urine on the way). Stick close to the water on the north and west edges if you can, it's better for the soul. Retreat to Golden Gate Park and hang out with the ducks when overload starts to set in. SF has more than it's share of good people - mostly the ones who have family roots going back a ways - it's the New San Franciscans that got imported during and after the dot-com boom that seem to comprise 95% of the jackoff population.

Anonymous said...

And of course the door swings both ways. Your programmed fear of "white" Christians (though the majority globally are non-white and as diverse culturally as it gets.") is just as irrational and simple minded as those you accuse. I dare you to pick any church on Sunday and attend the service with as much open mindedness and non-judgement as you would use attending a Muslim service in Thailand. Or perhaps your simple-minded ignorance is your security blanket and identity.