-Caveat Lector-
>Yep, that's how I remember it, in the ethnically diverse Mission District.
As soon as we determined that there were no fires, gas leaks or people in
need of rescue in my immediate vicinity we hopped on the bike and headed
towards the biggest piller of smoke we could see, the famous Marina fire.
By the time we got there the firemen had more help than they needed and
sent us on our way. We went to Haight St. to check on Bound Together Books
and my friends who live in the back. The people on the block had
discovered a gas leak across the street from BT and had formed lines of
linked arms at either end of the block to prevent anybody from stumbling
ionto the gas cloud with a flame or a spark till somebody found the valve
and shut it off. We joined in, releaving a guy who really, really wanted
to run accross the park to see if his building on Fulton St. was still
standing. Eventually a couple fireman showed up, but by then a civilian
had found the valve and shut it off. I was low on gasoline and dark was
falling and, from where we stood at least, everything looked under
control. So went back to her place and resumed screwing. (No "earth moved"
jokes, please) We later went out to catch up on news. A strip joint two
blocks away, Big Al's, had a generator and a TV which they made available
to the public for free. Only then did we hear about the Bay Bridge and the
Cypress.
A lot of the people in the neighborhood spent the night and the next day
in Washington Square Park, huddled tightly together in the middle in case
an after shock knocked down more buildings. This was significant because
there is some racial tension in the neighborhood, mostly between the
Italians and the Chinese. It's more of a turf thing than a race thing, and
it's fairly polite, but there it is. The other primary ethnic groups in
North Beach are Yuppies and, thanks to some legacy cheap hotels,
Bohemians. Generally, I had noticed while hanging out around there, these
four groups pretty much ignored each other on the street. But when the
earth shook and those lights went out, everybody was instantly brothers
and sisters, or at least second cousins. Neighbors who had never spoken in
their lives were hugging each other and sharing their food.
The Chinese liquer store owner downstairs was afraid of being looted to
the extent that he had the chain on his front door and was selling through
the ajar space. Given SF's history of racist pogroms against the Chinese,
I can't blame him for being cautious. It proved unnecessary. There was an
orderly line of people stocking up on booze, candles and snacks. The cops
came by and told them to quit, which they did till he rounded the corner.
Despite the spike in liquer sales, the next couple days was the only time
ever in my entire life that I have stood at Grant and Green and not seen a
single drunk. Drink is what people DO on that block. They come for miles
around to do it. Sometimes they get a little rowdy (usually on New Years)
but when the lights were out everybody behaved very responsibly.
As long as no nuclear power plant melts and nobody starts shooting ICBMs
at glitches on their radar screen, we'll muddle through Y2K. So will the
rest of you. In some locations it could develop into a royal pain in the
butt, maybe on the scale of the Kobe Quake, Hurricane Andrew or the Great
Canadian Ice Storm. But TEOTWAWKI? Fat chance. TWAWKI has too much
momentum.
But just in case, you oughta horde food, arm yourself and help your
friends and neighbors develop contingency plans. Better safe than sorry.
Do NOT trust the government to take care of you. If they do take care of
you, so much the better. But don't bet your life on it.
Really, you oughta be armed, provisioned and organized anyway, 'cuz who
knows what might happen. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Be aware. Be prepared.
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