Despite a 26 hour trip including a 6 hour delay at LAX, I finally landed in San Francisco. Fortunately, I had Saturday to myself before things get under way and decided to have a little wonder.
As expected there was quite a lot to take in. Tall buildings, marketing, trams, piers, hills, fog, and of course the Golden Gate Bridge. I found myself trying to live the moment and actually didn't take too many photos. There's so much I could comment on. Americans definitely have a different approach to things. What is with all the commercials?
I was also a little shocked to the amount of poverty I saw. I know all inner cities have their problems but, it really did feel like it was everywhere. The stereotype of living rough with a shopping cart is quite prominent. Living in London one would of thought I'd be use to it?
Anyways, I better get up. Registration opens today. I'm already excited! I promise more photos soon.
It's awesome: you decided you wanted something and then went out and got it. I'm only a little jealous, really...
ReplyDeleteRE: Poverty - Now, I'm not totally sure about this, but it seems to me there are two factors: first, the "economic gap" between so-called rich and poor; and second, the "acceptance principle" which I just made up.
The first is obvious: the rich get richer, blah blah blah. It is also insidious, as you have to earn a whole lot more to even APPEAR rich - so maybe people decide it's not worth the effort.
This leads into the second. If there are a number of people living okay (not well, but not bad) "below the poverty line" then it signals that it is an acceptable lifestyle. I think maybe some people (a lot?) look at the cost/benefit ratio and decide that pushing a shopping cart around ain't so bad, it's almost socially "safe"...
Compare American poor to the poor in China, where life is utterly miserable and then you die. In America, you're not necessarily "happy" -- but you're not so UNhappy that it's worth going out and getting a sh*t job for sh*t pay, working 11-12 hour days to scrape by. Therefore, you accept the Way of the Shopping Cart.
I haven't really thought this through, by the way, just some musing and I'm sorry if I offended anyone (tell me why/how?). But yeah, interesting related reads are Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" and Stephen Levitt's "Freakonomics". :-)