(Taken during my time working for the GOP of Florida, May 2006. Pictured former FL Governer Jeb Bush, Me and Rep. Mayfield.)
I recently discovered that a comedian named Dan Hoyle launched a campaign to investigate Sarah Palin’s America called “the real Americans.” A long term “lefty” of San Francisco, Hoyle travels to the “reddest of red states” to un-cover who the “real” Americans actually are. According to Chris Jensen’s piece in SF Weekly “The Real Americans distinguishes itself by offering a slightly nuanced look at modern conservatism while taking a few well-aimed shots at the smugness and cluelessness of San Francisco lefties. It's by no means a conservative show — the play's viewpoint is unapologetically liberal. But Hoyle is more genuinely curious about his ideological opponents than many of us who reside in what he calls the "urban PC bubble”.”
Coming from the point of view of a someone who moved to SF from “Sarah Palin’s America”, I would venture to say most people living out of the "urban PC Bubble" would be equally shocked by the “interesting characters” one experiences in just a few short hours on the streets of San Francisco. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this city is the dichotomy between rich and poor. It's easy for those Hoyle calls "San Francisco lefties" to talk amoungst eachother about the imporantance of "equality" from their trendy, over-priced cafes, while just a little south of them exists the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, who are so a part of the scenery, they have become invisible.
On my walk to the the Public Library from my apartment in Lower Nob Hill, I pass through the worst neighborhood in San Francisco called the Tenderloin, or, what the locals call, "the 'Loin".
And so here's my attempt at chronicling the REAL San Francisco--my walk through the Tenderloin, Friday, December 3, 2010:
1:30pm--Leave apartment. Smell weed and pee.
1:32pm--A bum is throwing up at the crosswalk.
1:36--Walking south on Polk Street towards Tenderloin. Seven homeless already counted. Three adandoned sleeping bags.
1:39pm--Lost count of homeless. Spotted minimum of three transvestite prostitutes. Deep in the 'Loin. Clutching purse.
1:40pm--Getting close to Civic Center. Hear protest. Protest headed towards me. Protest takes over street. There are at least 300 people chanting "Education not Deportation." (I get a video on my phone but can't figure out how to upload it!). MY FIRST PROTEST! (tear).
1:45pm--Finally make my way out of the crowd and head to the library.
1:52pm--Homeless woman is washing her clothes in the bathroom of the library.
1:57pm--I leave the library and head home.
2:05pm--A crackhead is screaming "What NOW!?" towards cars as they pass. He literally has the white lips like that Dave Chappelle sketch. I didn't know this actually happened... I feel really naive.
2:06pm--A bum is on his hands and knees under the bus shelter, looking for something using his drug needle.
2:09pm--I'm about a foot away from getting spit on by a prostitute.
There honestly was more but I think you get the idea. The fact that dawned on me during this walk was that this side of America is not limited to San Francisco. To an extent this side of humanity exists in every town and every city, even back in Florida, I was just too comfortable in my car and MY bubble to notice. But now I'm on the train, and I'm on the bus, and I'm on the streets, up close and personal, for better or for worse. And it's not pretty, and I wonder if Pelosi is right for giving them clean needles or if Guiliani had the right idea in New York. I guess it's true what they say about the road to hell...
