Encountering random strangers fighting it out on the streets of San Francisco is just sometimes part of city life. Many of us look the other way, quickening our step as we hurry on to our destination. Others dial 911, perhaps hoping that SFPD will calm the situation down. Few of us, however, take the path of Mozilla Firefox co-creator Blake Ross, who last week decided to film an ongoing altercation on 20th and Valencia Street and then compose an original song to accompany the video.
The street ruckus, which begins simply enough with a man loudly (through a bullhorn) voicing his displeasure that a tow truck is towing someone else's car, quickly escalates as a neighbor jumps into the fray and many (many) meter maids arrive on the scene.
The semi-NSFW video, which should be watched in its entirety, features the following gems:
- A man riding his bicycle in circles in the middle of the street while using a bullhorn to accuse a tow truck driver of being a "Nazi sympathizer;"
- A shirtless guy yelling from a balcony;
- A wonderful The Price Is Right reference;
- The lyrical use of the phrase "a street sweeper's wet dream;"
- And the observation that we're in an "asshat bubble."
You can watch the entire video, which helpfully includes subtitles so that you can sing along, below.
A few days ago, I witnessed the absolute dumbest fight I’ve ever seen—right here in the broad daylight of San Francisco.Today I was going to write my usual third-person-bastard account of the incident. But I'm trying to stretch myself into scary new forms of writing. So, regrettably for you, I instead used my footage of the fight to write a song.The best way to watch this video is to not watch it. The second best way is to rotate your phone and tap the barely-visible “HD” button in the bottom right after opening the video. Thanks to my friends who continue to support my close calls with sanity.
Posted by Blake Ross on Friday, October 23, 2015