Things I've Learned from San Francisco

It looks like my time in San Francisco is drawing to a close. It isn't by choice, but by necessity. I've lived here a year and have exhausted my savings without finding a job. Sadly, a good heart doesn't pay the rent.

In getting ready to move, I've been reflecting on what I've learned in San Francisco.

First, I learned Patience. I have ADHD. Patience is not an easy virtue of mine. Still, after being a typical Kansas City driver, I learned that contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to drive with your horn. One almost never hears someone honk at someone in this town. Even the taxi drivers seem to be uncommonly patient and polite. The only exception to this rule are MUNI operators who are rude and surly at the best of times.

Also, I learned that you can wait in line and not have a coronary from the stress. To be honest, I'm still learning this and probably will never quite master it. But I'm trying.

The reason a city is a fun city is because its citizens organize fun things. From the Bring Your Own Big Wheel race down crookedest streets to Urban Golf to reenacting the Alamo with water balloons, this town has a fun mix of people.

Tolerance is for the uncivilized. This city openly accepts its strangest and squirreliest of citizens. It enjoys them. It gives them space and time to be themselves.

Compassion starts with the least of citizens and extends upwards. You'd think 2000 years after Christ, we'd get this. After 30 years of Republican "compassion-lite", which is to say no compassion at all, there are still people who care about the homeless and try to find ways to help them, while keeping them out of the parks and people's backyards.

People like to say that people in the Midwest are friendly. I don't think they know the meaning of the term. By San Francisco standards, Kansans are downright hesitant. MUNI drivers aside, people in this town don't resent being stopped and asked directions or which bus to take. They will patiently explain how to get across town and what bus numbers to look for. I've never lived in a city so friendly and nice.

There are some aspects of liberalism, exemplified in this city, with which I'm uncomfortable. I don't like how everyone thinks they can have a stake in someone's private construction project. I think it is unAmerican to let your neighbors have a say in the color of your house or whether you are allowed to build three stories or two. If they aren't chipping in on the cost, I don't think they should get a say. But people here do think that is the way it should be. For better or worse, it somehow works well enough that eventually construction projects do get built. Just later and for more money than it would cost if people minded their own business.

Sorry. That was the Kansan in me talking.