Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

What are we doing

It is absolutely embarrassing for the city of San Francisco to have your football team’s first round rookie get shot whilst shopping downtown. In what looks like an armed robbery gone sideways, the incident reinforces the image of a lawless hellhole of a city that Fox News would like its audience to believe. Giants legend Buster Posey was right: San Francisco’s seedy reputation (perceived, factual, or otherwise) might indeed be a deterrent for free agents to sign with local sports teams.

Because if I am going to be paying over half my salary in combined State and Federal taxes (thank you for your service, millionaires), I definitely would want to feel safe.

Ricky Pearsall getting shot will only serve further pause to future free agents. Pearsall didn’t have a choice - he was drafted by the 49ers as an amateur out of college. Fortunately for him, he is going to make a full recovery. The bullet did not hit any vital organs.

With that out of the way, the blame for this mess is on everyone who are in positions of power in this city for the past few years. Mayor, supervisors, police, non profits, judges, et cetera. We can’t have nice things because those in power are actively choosing to not have them. Breaking the law must have consequences, even if the offenders are minors. A slap on the wrist simply because they are underage is not acceptable. We can’t let an entire class of teens terrorize the community with impunity. And If you really can’t charge the kids, sue their parents or guardian for supreme negligence.

The apprehended Pearsall’s shooter is reportedly a 17-year old male from nearby Tracy. There’s got to be at least some prison time, right?

Consequences must follow

What really grinds my gears is going to Target and finding the thing I wanted to buy is locked up behind plexiglass. The introverted me will definitely not call for an associate to unlock the damn cabinet. Target often leaves me no choice but to buy the same item from Amazon. Sure I would have to wait two days to get it shipped for free, but at least I don’t have to beg someone to allow me the honor to make a purchase.

It’s a real shame that it has to be like this. Those tasked with making and enforcing laws have abdicated their duty to the public. When criminals can steal with impunity, the law-abiding majority suffers. The few ruins it for the many. We all have to take our shoes off at airport TSA checkpoints because one person nearly snuck a shoe bomb through one time. We all have to pay higher auto insurance premiums to cover the few who do not.

There has to be sufficient punishment to act as a deterrence. America cannot be like Japan: the orderliness, the cleanliness, and the utter lack of common crime is because of the Japanese culture. Lacking that, government must then create strong incentives. Take a look at China: pretty crimes are nonexistent, not because the population is overwhelmingly benevolent like Japan, but it is because there’s surveillance cameras everywhere. Who would be stupid enough to steal anything? Especially in a country with a somewhat arbitrary judicial system.

Not that I am advocating for mass surveillance here in the States. I’m just saying we cannot get to Japan from a bottom-up cultural standpoint. We must catch and punish those who do not follow laws. There’s no room for laxity. Oh, you can’t afford that red light ticket because you’re poor working class? Easy: don’t run the freaking red light in the first place. Choices were made, consequences must follow.

My fellow San Franciscans: you ever go to other parts of this country and be amazed that merchandise at a Target aren’t locked up behind glass? I have. It’s fantastic and sad to see at the same time. The powers at be in San Francisco are actively choosing to not have nice things.

Catch me riding easy

I saw this post on r/sanfranicso of a Muni bus driver reminding others to be alert when riding. Thieves are on the hunt for unsuspecting riders who are nonchalantly using their phones. The perps would snatch the phones and hop off just as buses are arriving at stops. Moral of the story is: don’t sit or stand close to the bus doors?

Tell me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco, without telling me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco. Those of us that do (or formerly did for more than two decades) have always had to be on alert whenever we ride public transportation. Never pick a seat where someone can block you in. Always have your heads up, be cognizant of who is getting on. If something doesn’t feel right to the gut, get as much distance from that thing as possible.

And for god’s sake, never have your electronics visible. Back in the day, I used the brokest most ragged looking pair of earphones to go with my iPod. The signature white ones that came with the music player put a giant visible target on you. The iPod never left my jacket pocket ever whilst on the bus. That habit continued into the smartphone era. I never take my phone out when I am riding public transportation.

These are simple basic survival skills on how to avoid being a mugging victim on the bus. Now, one can strongly argue that you shouldn’t have to carry the alertness of an undercover spy just to ride. Indeed in a country where you can have nice things, that should be the reality. I never have to worry about anything when I am riding public transport in Asian cities. The comparative calm is enough to give me PTSD when I have to switch it back on here in the States.

Any hope of change has to start with creating strong incentives against thievery on buses. We need stronger deterrence than slaps on the proverbial wrists. If the perps are minors, then the law should hold their legal guardian(s) responsible. Victims cannot be the only ones with (sometimes literal) skin in the game.

No burgers for you

Word on the street is that sole In-N-Out burger location in Oakland is closing down. Not because that location isn't making money, but because that location has high crime. I get it: no amount of profit is worth it if your employees and customers aren't safe (or don't feel safe). The staff persons standing outside taking orders for the drive-thru lane must have PTSD from witnessing all the car break-ins. If it's anything like our local Target, the self-serve soda machines at that In-N-Out must be chaos. If you know, you know.

What I am not reading underneath the calls for 'the community to come together to address the issues' - whatever that means - is any concrete methods to deter crime, to stop and hold criminals accountable. In-N-Out management literally told us what the problem is - crime, and yet all people can say is we must come together, that city government must come together. Stop it. Stop the rampant crime from happening, so that people who work and visit that area feel safe.

Our local H Mart supermarket immediately implemented a phalanx of security guards (on electric golf carts, interestingly) on patrol, after a rash of vehicle break-ins in the parking lot. There's security at the front door checking receipts, too. While it is sad that in a first-world society we need such visual deterrents to crime, but at the very least, I feel safe whenever I visit that H Mart. Same with the local mall, where there's security at entrances to stores with high-priced items.

If on top of that, the municipal governments can arrest and prosecute the criminals, I think we'll be just fine moving forward. Because not everyone has the monetary power to hire private security. Let's not wait until bustling strip malls and thoroughfares all become empty ghost towns before the right thing is done.

Not another one

It was a shock yesterday morning to find out local entrepreneur Bob Lee (whom I honestly have never heard of until yesterday) was stabbed to death in the early morning near the Rincon towers. A ritzy part of San Francisco downtown that you typically wouldn’t associate with violence. But nothing like a rich white guy getting killed, seemingly senselessly, to garner widespread outrage. Where was the same energy for that Asian kid who got stabbed on the bus?

Discussion is good. We need to continue talking about how bad crime has become in San Francisco. Those who cite numbers to the contrary can shove it. Car break ins happen daily, unabated. Homeless encampments everywhere. There’s open drug markets in the Tenderloin district. Rampant retail theft is forcing store closures. Sure, the odds of me getting stabbed in San Francisco is lower than other cities, but in this case, feelings don’t care about your facts. We don’t feel safe!

Feelings vote. Either with feet (plenty of people have moved out of the region), or at the ballot box. We successfully recalled our disastrous previous District Attorney, and voted in someone who does prosecute. The heavily Asian Sunset district voted out an incumbent Chinese supervisor. Anyone in government who continues to allow for the status quo will soon arrive at the finding out phase of fucking around and find out.

Tech bros (and brodettes) have lots of power in San Francisco. I hope Bob Lee’s death will not be in vain. Let the outcry of his death add to the chorus of discontent that may then grow into an absolute avalanche. Rest in peace.

There goes the neighborhood

Word on the street is our local mall is being inundated with rowdy teenagers. Lots of fights and general mayhem. The mall has pledged additional security presence, and SFPD promised more officer patrols. Things have definitely changed for the worse since my high school days. We used to go to the same mall after school all the time. I can’t remember even one incidence of fighting. Honestly, what Lowell kid would risk suspension and missing class time? No way.

While it’s understandable that teenagers will be rowdier than the average adult, causing fights and disruption is definitely unacceptable. We expect them to pull some tables together at the food court and be loud and rambunctious. What we don’t expect is dozens of them gathering together and duking it out. This isn’t West Side Story. Where the heck are your manners?

It’s good to see the mall and SFPD doing something now. What I would hate to see is nothing being done until some kid gets stabbed and killed. The lawsuit against the mall from the hypothetical aggrieved parents would be massive. As private property, the duty is on the mall to keep a pleasant, non-stabbing, environment. I certainly would visit the mall less if the unruly teenagers problem continues.

Who I most feel sorry for are the mall workers. They definitely do not get paid enough to deal with this shit.

There’s a general sense the San Francisco government, from the very top on down, simply do not care about fixing quality-of-life crimes. We are the car break-in capital of America, we can’t buy laundry detergent at Walgreens without asking a clerk to unlock the shelf, and open drug markets run unabated in one district. To live in a society where reporting a theft will only illicit a shrug of the shoulders from the police: it’s utter madness. Why can’t we have nice things?

Criminal elements

My mom informed me there was a police raid recently in their townhome building. Thankfully this time it was not for my felonious brother (no joke). Rather, it was for the son of our downstairs neighbor, who is about my age. Apparently (and allegedly) he was a major fentanyl dealer. The feds came bright and early to smash in and arrest him. San Francisco’s new district attorney - Brooke Jenkins - is not messing around!

It was kind of a surprise to hear about this because I’d always thought the son was a stand-up guy. A regular dude with a job, a wife, and a baby daughter. Growing up in Visitation valley’s public housing, I expect to be amongst some criminal elements. For over twenty years there wasn’t a peep of bad news from our direct neighbors. If anything, it was my own brother who’s had trouble with the law. It’s sad to see.

At least it wasn’t strong-arm robbery or killing a guy. Just distributing some illicit substances to willing customers (again, allegedly). Victimless crime? These are consenting adults making transactions with one another, after all. Sure, I live in a neighbor now where I don’t see any drug users on the streets. People who live in the Tenderloin would say there’s definitely victims to this whole drug thing. The blocked sidewalks, the human excrement, and the street harassment.

These quality of life stuff is hugely important. Residents ought to feel safe and protected in their own neighborhoods. The reason we recalled the previous district attorney is because we largely did not feel safe. It doesn’t matter of crime statistics show otherwise. Often times, feelings don’t care about your facts, and not the other way around. Good to hear that DA Jenkins is on it.