All said, San Francisco is an amazing metropolis; an urban area that is the most significant economic, political and cultural center in California, despite what people in L.A. may counter-claim (all they have in Southern California is Hollywood - totally fake - and the infamous LAPD). San Francisco is also an important hub for regional or international connections, the home of Silicon Valley, the hot-bed of discovery in terms of modern communication, home of the Giants & Superbowl Champs 49ers (2013)... and so much more!
In an attempt to always be on the cutting edge of differency, San Francisco basically invented paying employees of start-up companies with relatively worthless stock - instead of money - mostly because start-ups generally don't have any money! Working virtual, or from home if you'd prefer, was obviously discovered here... because start-up companies definitely wouldn't have been able to pay monthly rent for office space.
When formal and evolved businesses adopted more casual work environments, San Francisco led the way with even more informal dress codes, including shorts and flip-flops (depending on the weather). When serious corporations created Casual Fridays as a special treat for their employees, San Francisco techies quietly snickered and invented Formal Fridays as a snub to the rest of employed humanity! I must admit, seeing men go to work on Fridays wearing bow-ties, bowler- or top hats and 'old fashioned' suits with neck-ties, is really quite a treat!
But... the creativity above was not deemed to be enough. No, we can always aspire to even greater creativity, especially when commuting. So, now we have men in workwear (as appropriate for their job, day of the week, etc.) - and a few women - commuting to their place of work on little fold-up scooters and skateboards.
It's bad enough that pedestrians have to dodge cyclists (obviously wearing full kit: reflective Kevlar jackets, cycling helmets, bikes featuring flashing LED lights front and rear) on the sidewalks, but skateboarders and scooting men in suits weave in and out of the much slower pedestrian traffic fast, with great skill, dodging - for the most part - people, fire hydrants, cars, one another, stop-signs, etc. Always kicking it up a notch...
Like most other people of unsound mind, I have often wonder if the splat that would follow when a pedestrian elbowed a fast-moving skateboarder in the ribs - entirely accidentally of course - would be entertaining for others to observe? We do know that nearly everyone likes to watch people tripping, falling, crashing, etc., otherwise NASCAR wouldn't exist.
Of course, no-one would really do that, right? The elbow thing. Or would they? I don't think so, but I do have a warped imagination anyway, and my imagined image of bitemarks on the sidewalk is harmless fun, right?
In a city where the standard greeting between strangers is "How is your Start-up"... creativity simply includes riding to work on a scooter, wearing black tie & tails to work on a Friday, executing on ideas at a rate unparalleled anywhere, globally...
I accept that my contribution to innovation and creativity that seems to be limited to an "Elbow To The Ribs" falls far short of San Francisco's ask of me as newly arrived migrant in their city, but it's only been a few months... and maybe I just need more time!
Disclosure: I'm neither long nor short on Elbows and/or the courage to execute this limit order, and I therefore hold no positions in any of the wacky ideas offered above.
