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A Sort of Homecoming
As we've said before, we're ensconced on the East Coast visiting family as like everyone else, we're not from here. It's always kind of entertaining going back east because as a San Franciscan, we somehow take the role as the representative from the (Non War ravaged) Baghdad by the Bay. It's like we're ambassadors. Or avatars. We are, for all intents and purposes, San Francisco.
People's reactions to us always fall into two categories. There's the "Oh my God, I love your city" reaction, which we always love because it's always great to hear. You know, validation of certain life choices and all that. Then there's the "what the hell are you guys doing?" reaction, usually followed by a long-list of perceived outrages we've done against the very fiber of the nation. Sometimes this is mixed in with the first response. This is ever the more so in light of the microscope suddenly placed on us by the media and our current role as go-to guys for those who feign outrage for a living and those who love being outraged.
Now there are four appropiate responses to these types of discussions
1)Shrugging shoulders
2)Immediately say something along the lines of "hey, don't look at us, we had nothing to do with it."
3)Remind said person just how beautiful the city is and hey, didn't you love that restaurant we took you to?
4)Argue back and tell them the importance of making big, empty, symbolic gestures.
We usually go with options 2 or 3.
Still, there are several things we are always reminded about when traveling outside the island of which we live in.
The first is that there is an actual world outside of San Francisco and that our everyday reality in SF is quite different than the reality found in the rest of the country. For instance, well, let's just tell you a story. We were at a shopping center and in front of us in line at the Starbucks was a guy in military fatigues. After he got his coffee and went to put in the cream and sugar, some guy just walked up to him and thanked him for being in the military and shook his hand. Now how many things in that above sentence would describe something that would occur in San Francisco? If you say none of it, you would be correct (of course, the guy in the fatigues had an Australia patch on his sleeve meaning he was either an Aussie or just into fatigues but you get the point). Reality checks are always appreciated.
The other thing we realize whenever we leave is this-- our favorite moment of these trips is the exact moment we first see San Francisco appear on the horizon as our flight comes into SFO. We are coming home.