Hey, jp, I am a street smart urban woman!!! Well, not really, my husband is always telling me my purse is hanging open and stuff when we are walking down the street, but I have never really felt that threatened. The Tenderloin has some really interesting things on the edges!! I always loved the beef brisket sandwiches at Tommy's Joynt at Van Ness and O'Farrell, and we lived a half block from there when we were first married so we could save money. We moved out to safer, prettier and more wooded and parked climes when my child was almost one. I don't think anyone ever really meant to hurt her, but she was a beautiful, healthy, Irish-looking baby with platinum hair, big blue eyes and baby sunglasses (her pediatrician's idea), so she did attract some attention from street people who were not in ordinary reality. One man got down on his knees and started praying to her, mumbling something about her having powers or something!!!
Speaking of which, I am not a religious person, but Glide Memorial Church is on another edge of the Tenderloin, and I used to love to go there. Religion at Glide is right now, in the moment, and a sensual experience, with a band, dancing, and balloons some Sundays, and warmth and free food if you need it, and redemption and love and acceptance there. The Reverend Cecil Williams is a little aged and rounded now--we frequent the same burrito place so I see him sometimes--but ten years ago he was strong and muscular and very exciting in the physical sense of the word, and he would stand at the door after the Sunday services and really squeeze and hug all the people coming out of the doors. I have to say this was quite an attraction!!!
Today it was proposed that San Francisco rehabilitate about a thousand bikes and paint them bright yellow and have them sitting at bike stands all over downtown, so people could ride them and leave them at the next stand, free for everyone. This has been tried successfully in other cities. Our mayor, Willie Brown, is furious that he ended up looking like an idiot because his political solution to Critical Mass fell through, and he is campaigning for jail terms for some of the bikeriders!!! He tried to keep all the bikes, but the City Attorney advised him that would be illegal. So things are happening, and are very interesting. I read that the city of London also has a Critical Mass movement, and that bicyclists' rights are rapidly becoming a very important issue there and in cities all over America. This is something really positive for the environment. Now we have to make it easier to ride, with lots of bike racks and bike lanes everywhere. Maybe some public showers, also!!!
Okay, so what is your really classy place to drink in the Tenderloin? The Blue Lamp or something? |
