Learning

I learn lots of things living in this city. More than learning via answers though, it all uncovers itself through questions. For instance:

Why are their at least a few, if not many, Slavic-looking, old women with their heads wrapped like Eastern-European village peasants trying to sell me random bits of food as I walk along the road? Yesterday, a woman of this description, almost crying, tried to sell me a jar of Jiffy peanut butter and/or a bag of some kind of grain that was not in a sealed package. I don't understand who these women are, or where they're from....

Why is their a public food spot along the wall on Larkin between Eddy and Ellis? There is a little shelf spot on the side of a building where there are infinite half-eaten bags of chips, or loaves of bread, or cup-of-soups. I've seen people go up and grab some, taste them, and then walk on, eating their meal.

What is in the heads of prositutes? At least once a day, if not more, I'm made painfully aware of all the prostitution in this city. I already know that we are the mecca of human-trafficking for sex in the Western Hemisphere. The path seems to be from Bangkok or Seoul to Tijuana and up through LA to SF where the money is. But the women I see are not locked in basements, they are not Asian. They are generally white women. Yesterday at about 5:30, a woman got out of a car yelling, and she looked distraught and then immediately threw herself at a man sitting in his car. "Your girlfriend around?...... Can I be your girlfriend?" She was probably 25 and highly addicted to something. Today, on my way to work at 9:30 it was almost unbearable. An older woman, around 45, looking horrified of life, almost crying, with defeat in her eyes, saw me looking at her. She almost cried to me: "Hi...." I walked on.

Why do so many people nonchalantly pick food out of trash cans and cigarette ends off the street? In this city, there really is no middle-middle class. There are the ultra rich and fairly rich. There are masses of people of comparatively humble means like me who spend all their time buying swanky clothes and expensive meals to emulate the rich. On the other side, there are the working poor who barely make it and then there are the street people. There are so many people who live out of the trash can, it's not even alienating for them to dive right in.

Why does nobody care? I finally met my neighbors accross the hall. They seem nice, and are about 33. I sat with them for about 45 minutes while they (primarily) discussed three topics: their dog, their plans for tomorrow and the legal industry. The dog comments were about taking him for walks. In one story, the woman ridiculed the homeless around on their walks and mocked them using a really insulting voice. The legal industry comments were about the arrogance of lawyers, because she is one (like 10% of San Franciscans). The point discussed about tomorrows plans for them and the guy's mom were primarily about one question: Man:"Should I tell them to eat light for lunch?" Woman: "No, because then they might be expecting more and not enjoy the chips and salsa." Man: "You're right, they will have walked a lot and would really enjoy something to eat." Woman: "But don't have them eat too much for lunch, or they won't be hungry". This went on for 15 minutes and was punctuated by giving directions to the bar they were going to meet at. "You know "Score"? Well, go own that street and turn right before the "Siesta Lounge". Then "Red Room" will be on your left. (I made up these names). Crazy me, I thought streets had names. Good thing I've been to every elitist restaurant in town and have based my entire understanding of the city on the geography of hipster places.

One last story: Agnieszka and I were on Bush, a half a block from Chinatown Gate at the French church. We wanted to sit on the steps and rest, but on one side a man was sleeping, so we went to the other. After about an hour a man showed up, jerking his head crazily about trying to take off his jacket. He was cowering in another doorway to the church and it suddenly occurred to me that our conversation had stolen this man's bed. So, we decided to leave. As we did, he stumbled into some bushes and I fugured he was going to relieve himself. Instead, he picked up a pile of sleeping stuff: sleeping bag, blankets, etc. and I figured it out. He sleeps on the steep, cold steps of this church on busy Bush St. every night and then stashes his stuff in the bushes during the day so he doesn't get yelled at. He's obviously mentally ill.

How can we live in this city when tens of thousands of people are drug addicts, dying of AIDS, mentally ill, malnourished and dying on our streets. Tens of thousands more live in a world of violence where they shoot at, get shot at, or live in fear of getting murdered. Shootings occur here everyday. But no matter. All is well over in Pacific Heights. San Francisco is repositioning itself as a major city of power. We are going to go from a world-class city that tries to avoid living like a big city, to an all-out Manhattan carbon-copy, while we blatantly ignore the statistic that we have 14th largest city in the US, but the 2nd most homeless people. We have almost as many as LA with about 20% of the population. Around 80% of our homeless are known as "hardcore", meaning they've lived on the street for longer than 3 months. Some haven't had a permanent bed in 30 years.

What's the difference again between San Francisco and the third world?

Wir sind Helden - Endlich ein Grund zur Panik