The Tenderloin district in San Francisco is notorious for its poverty-stricken, aesthetically unappealing composition. Its name, at least so I am told, derives from the police officers of yesteryear being paid more to work its dangerous streets...so much more, in fact, that they could afford more expensive cuts of meat than the rest- namely, tenderloin.
Whether or not this is fact or folly seems unimportant because at least it provides a good conversation piece from your seat in a quaint restaurant in an affluent neighborhood like North Beach, or Russian Hill, or the Marina.
But, I feel that it is important for us all not to lose touch with the reality of this part of town, particularly as we gaze at it condescendingly from our ivory Coit towers.
In fact, the Tenderloin may be the most "real" part of the city that we have. Here, there is no sugar coating the sour apples. The truths and realities of contemporary society are laid bare for all to see.
My bus, the 27 Bryant, happens to skirt the 'Loin on its track leading me from the ever-elegant Financial District back home to my apartment in Russian Hill. During the trip, it is commonplace for some of the more raucous and mentally unstable inhabitants of its streets to board the bus (for free, of course, because what bus driver with any sanity at all is actually going to try to collect a fare from someone that smells like they've just been vomitted from a urinal). Inevitably, some sort of trouble is caused by these individuals, ranging from the lecturing of all the other bus patrons on how they are "stupid crackers" and ought to "shut their loud mouths" to picking fights with disabled people in the front of the bus for "taking up all the goddamn seats," and threatening to beat them with their own canes.
While most of these events are wildly inappropriate and even scary, at times, we must also keep in mind the source of the incidents. These people, which is what they are after all, have probably endured circumstances not anywhere near what the wildest reaches of our imaginations can fathom. They have suffered physical abuse, drug addiction, fights, jail time, broken homes, broken bones, bloodshed, heartache, and complete and utter poverty, and these might all come on what one of them refers to as a "good day."
The unfortunate truth that emanates from all of this is that the world is a cruel and difficult place to live. Some people are not equipped to handle it on their own, some do not ever receive the chance or the guidance to do so, and many end up living where others spit and surviving the only way they know how...through aggression.
And, so, it is not wonder that some of the 'Loin's inhabitants lash out and vent their frustration on occasion. They are literally dying for their voices to be heard.
It is also a reality that many of us are ill-equipped to make any sort of a difference. We cannot feed all the hungry, nor house all the homeless. It would be ignorant for us to believe we could and to think that giving one man a dollar, which he will probably use to buy crack, is going to make a difference and should make us feel good about ourselves.
However, it is a good idea not to lose touch with the harsh realities that others face. Yes, it is no crime for us to work hard and enjoy the fruits of our labors and our good fortunes. It is no crime to be educated and well-dressed and ambitious. But it is a crime to hate other people because they have not enjoyed the same luxuries as you.
As this is the point that I am garrulously trying to make.
We should not avoid the Tenderloin. In fact, we should even seek it out from time to time.
This is not to say that we should go looking for trouble and complain when we get it. Heading into the area at 12 o'clock on a Friday night would probably not be the wisest idea.
But, we should drive through it now and again, if only to remind ourselves just how fortunate we are and just how unfortunate others are, as well.
It would only take a few twists of fate to bring us to our knees as these people have fallen.
More importantly, we should do everything we can to help...but that means intelligently helping. Give to your local charities. Help at soup kitchens and with food drives. Volunteer at inner-city schools and boys and girls clubs. Because the real truth is that you can make a difference if you know who to lend your helping hand to.
And appreciate what you've got. We all don't do it enough, and it is the greatest testament and tribute to our good fortune that we can create.