The wife and I were having this (usual for us) conversation just the night before. We can't possibly reincarnate into this earthly life yet again once we depart the present. We're exhausted, disgusted (with humanity per se), and let's face it- we ain't gonna get any better than we are now (least I'm not). This is indubitably the very best version of me attainable- granted, not much... but what could be gained risking the possibility of regressing and going backwards? Really don't wanna go there...
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| Lombard St. Photo: © S. Banos |
Anyway... how does this get us to Lombard St.- "The Crookedest Street in the World?" It's an incredibly beautiful street in San Francisco- very nice homes, highlighted with flowers everywhere in one of the most uniquely architectured living environments anywhere! So what's the problem?
Well, despite all the above- it's also besieged, and I do mean besieged, by tourists every damn minute of every damn day. Those residents have little, if any respite from the meandering hordes... ever! Morning, noon or night. Even in Italian hill towns, tourists tend to dissipate come night and winter. Not here. They are on their streets and sidewalks, their driveways, posing in front of their front yards. Residents are literally prisoners in their own homes- nice as they are! On the other hand... while I do have sympathy (I really don't know if I could withstand it)- it's not like they're living in Iraq or Syria.*
I've often gone to the top of Lombard St. attempting to get some Marty Parr(ish) type photos of all the ridiculousness, but have always come back empty handed. This time I found myself at the bottom (it's on a steeply inclined hill) where I made note of said monument to what crosses my mind every time I've gone there.
I suppose there are various versions and intensities of hell, and we all have our shared and unique burdens to persevere- Chrissakes, the very fact that I can casually ponder such inequities is proof in and of itself of my "elite" world class status... despite living on an economic precipice. It's just that, it's just that... goddamn, life is hard enough even when you're not living on the streets, hard enough when they're not taking pot shots at ya, hard enough when you don't have a terminal disease or major disability!
Next time 'round, maybe I'll just learn to stop complaining.Though that won't be particularly easy if I'm plunked down in the midst of a nuclear winter- particularly with all the Repubs crowing about how wrong we got global warming...
*All kidding aside- this is what hell on earth really looks like (ironically, they're the first to mention that there are others who have it even worse).
*All kidding aside- this is what hell on earth really looks like (ironically, they're the first to mention that there are others who have it even worse).
Man, that sucks. I've always wanted to visit Lombard St, but I don't want to be part of the tourist problem! We kind of have a smaller version of that problem down here in Dallas, the JFK connection the city has draws all kinds of people downtown to Dealey Plaza, to discuss various conspiracy theories, avoid the unofficial tour guides that work on tips, and visit the 6th Floor Museum. All of that is fine, the problem is that the city has marked Elm street where the Presidential Limo was at each shot with big X's and the tourists that come from all over, love to run out in the middle of the street and pose for a photo, nevermind that Elm street is a three lane one-way street out of downtown. And like you, I'm attempting to do my best Marr impression (best tagged by someone I saw on Instagram - #subpar)
ReplyDeletehttp://laidricstevenson.format.com/two-xs
It was surprisingly deserted when I went there about 10yrs ago, maybe just an off day. Still, you just want to go up to some of these smiling, reveling tourists and ask why they're celebrating a then beloved President having his brains blown out.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've always wondered about the morbid fascination with it all. A couple of blocks over however, there's more dignity and respect shown at the JFK Memorial, where people leave flowers.
ReplyDeletealso I misspelled that hashtag it should be #subparr