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March 19, 2011

The Line To Eat

I remember when I found this line in San Francisco the last time. I suspect in was in March of 2003. There was a huge blizzard bearing down on the Denver area and I drove to the airport and bought a ticket on the way. I flew out on a Sunday night or Monday night...can't recall for sure which...just barely escaping a massive blizzard. I landed in the middle of a spectacular spring in San Francisco, happy as a pig in slop. I bought a motorcycle for the week (purchased it on Monday for $500 and sold it on Sunday for $450 and a trip to the airport).

By chance, while I was there for that one week in San Francisco, the U.S. invaded Iraq, well, everything went straight to hell in San Francisco. The people spilled into the streets and it was like Mardi Gras all over again. I have to admit I got all caught up in the excitement and bought a gas mask and ran around the city shooting like mad. It was a lot of fun.

But, in any event, I found this long line of people and I parked my motorcycle and walked up to someone and said "what's this line for?", wanting to get in on whatever was going down. And the guy said "this is the line to eat."

And I was just like...wow. Like...here I am running around like a moron, spending money like water, and this whole line of people doesn't have any food. Wow.

The city sort of does this to you....rubs your nose into the underclass...into the poverty stricken souls who, for whatever reason, aren't making it so well. And, it's not that I don't think a lot of them bring it on themselves. I'm sure they do. I'm sure there's plenty of drug addicts in the line and God only knows what else. But still, when you see them, all queued up in line for a soup kitchen, it looks like something straight out of the '30's.

So, in any event, when I saw them this time, I didn't ask anyone what the line was for. I knew. And it's twice as long now as it was in March of 2003.

Now, I told Scotty last night that San Francisco is a ruined city, and he just laughed. And, I know he didn't believe me, but let me set the record straight for those of you that haven't been there in a while. The city of San Francisco is in decline.

In 2009, they found a crack in the Golden Gate Bridge, and a month later one of the bridges main support cables snapped. Around the same time, the Bay Bridge failed and was closed for days.

5 people were shot in the Mission District (where I work) Wednesday night this week.

According to Mayor Ed Lee, San Francisco is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

Their horrendous tax policies and vacation/sick leave policies drive all start-ups out of the city.

Everything that isn't nailed down is spray-painted into oblivion. Granted, I like to see the murals that are painted with permission, but spray painting someone's truck is not art, IMHO.

Above: Classic Jet Martinez mural on Lombard Street at Columbus Avenue in San Francisco's North Beach district.

Above: Classic mural on Lombard Street at Columbus Avenue in San Francisco's North Beach district.

Above: The Edo Hair Salon mural in Lower Haight (Haight and Steiner).

Above: Mural at Haight and Steiner by Sacramento-based artist Skinner.



Above: Ocean Beach and Cliff House.

Above: The Golden Gate bridge, as viewed from the Marin County headlands, facing Southeast, with San Francisco in the background.

Above: The Golden Gate bridge, as viewed from the Marin County headlands, facing Southeast, with San Francisco in the background.

Above: The Golden Gate bridge, as viewed from the Marin County headlands, facing Southeast, with San Francisco in the background.

Above: Bird Island Overlook in the Marin County headlands (Fort Cronkhite in the background).

Above: Point Bonita Lighthouse as viewed from Bird Island Overlook in the Marin County headlands (Land's End in the background).

Above: Marin County headlands as viewed from Bunker Road near Fort Barry.

Above: CA-1 Shoreline Highway on the way to Muir Beach.

Above: Muir Beach overlook looking south toward Muir Beach and Bird Island.

Above: Muir Beach overlook looking south toward Muir Beach and Bird Island.

Above: Rocky Point overlook looking north across Stinson Beach. A surfer was attacked by a Great White shark at Stinson Beach in 2002, requiring a hundred stitches or so.

Above: Somewhere in the Olema Valley.

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 19, 2011 at 6:57 PM

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