🚀 go-pugleaf

in article 8p68nh$1jhdc$3@rn.area.com, David Kaye  wrote:

> No, it does not.  That's as lame as researching a school paper by simply
> doing a Yahoo search.  Studying a community means taking the time to get
> to know people, by hanging around them in social groups, charitable
> organizations, neighborhood groups, bands, arts groups, poetry groups,
> whatever.  It means connecting by going to bars, coffeehouses, and whatnot
> and talking with people.

Since I was a very small kid, one of my favorite venues for mingling with
locals is the Muni. To this day, I strike up conversations whenever I
ride--which is several times a week. The amount of insight gained in terms
of keeping up with San Francisco is incalculable. I have always thought that
out-of-towners were literally throwing away a fabulous resource by insisting
on renting a car.

Cab drivers are marginally OK. Most of them won't open up until the fare
demonstrates a certain level of "worthiness", either by establishing himself
as a frequent visitor or regional resident. Muni is MUCH better.

> I have had no trouble going to an unknown town (such as Spokane) and
> finding an inexpensive place to stay at about half the price advertised in
> the "discount" coupon books.  You just hang out, talk with people, get to
> know them a little.

In my travels, I find San Francisco to rank fairly high among cities in
terms of ease of establishing a conversation with a stranger. It is much
better, for instance, than most of SoCal, and is topped only by some rural,
out of the way places. Extended projects in the southern United States has
revealed to me that "southern hospitality" is not all it is cracked up to
be.

The bottom line is that San Francisco is hardly a "closed town" to anyone
who makes the slightest effort to scratch the surface.

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