SF: City of Self-Righteous Idiots:

One thing you don’t see much of in the tourist literature is than San Francisco has more self-righteousness per square foot than any place this side of the nearest graduate student seminar. I think it’s probably because the town is small geographically and has been a haven for the dispossessed throughout its history. Therefore everybody guards their piece of it like a toddler with the last cookie. Except in this case, the toddler is probably has a double masters degree in folklore and making an ass of himself while claiming to serving the interests of whatever marginal community they belong to. Put another way, I’d never seen an interest group for canine physical fitness until I arrived here. They’ve probably got a member on city council and are perennially aggreived by the lack of respect dog agility receives in this town.

Never been here? Exhibit A: A guy gets on a bus with an expired pass. Can’t ride the bus with an expired pass. In his indignation at this enforcement of the law (an unjust law!), he manages to turn the whole bus against him and get the cops involved. All over the $1.50 it would cost to ride the bus home.

San Francisco: Home of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mission Delores, and the mountain out of a molehill.

Reader interactions

12 Replies to “SF: City of Self-Righteous Idiots:”

  1. I think that the price of having a very permissive city is that, sometimes, people feel that their inflated sense of entitlement is completely justified. In other words, if you’re going to have a Folsom Street Fair and pot clubs, you’re also going to have consternation when someone suddenly says, “now you’ve gone too far.”

  2. I think that the price of having a very permissive city is that, sometimes, people feel that their inflated sense of entitlement is completely justified. In other words, if you’re going to have a Folsom Street Fair and pot clubs, you’re also going to have consternation when someone suddenly says, “now you’ve gone too far.”

  3. Wow, that dude’s a dick! And he was apparently sober too. You don’t see that here until well after last call.

  4. Wow, that dude’s a dick! And he was apparently sober too. You don’t see that here until well after last call.

  5. Wasn’t it San Francisco Stan and his family moved to in that episode of South Park, and everybody in SF went around smelling their own farts all the time?

  6. Wasn’t it San Francisco Stan and his family moved to in that episode of South Park, and everybody in SF went around smelling their own farts all the time?

  7. Anyone remember prior to what? 94? 95? when all of the MUNI employees had to take sensitivity training because you used to stand a good chance of just getting a beat down by the driver for these stunts (witnessed several personally)? I liked MUNI better when that stuff used to happen, but yeah, that’s a lot of the reason why this kind of shit happens now. Has less to do with how “tolerant” SF is..

  8. Anyone remember prior to what? 94? 95? when all of the MUNI employees had to take sensitivity training because you used to stand a good chance of just getting a beat down by the driver for these stunts (witnessed several personally)? I liked MUNI better when that stuff used to happen, but yeah, that’s a lot of the reason why this kind of shit happens now. Has less to do with how “tolerant” SF is..

  9. Barger,
    I too am no friend of the MUNI driver as an absract entity but I think nowdays, most of them are simply working people trying to get a job done. I can only imagine how it must be to have this kind of argument with a grown adult over $1.50 at the end of a long day.

  10. Barger,
    I too am no friend of the MUNI driver as an absract entity but I think nowdays, most of them are simply working people trying to get a job done. I can only imagine how it must be to have this kind of argument with a grown adult over $1.50 at the end of a long day.

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