I’ve never lived there or wanted to, or even visited (or wanted to), the closest encounter was gazing across the Bay during a walk in SF. I’ve never wanted to go back to SF, either. :’) That was the year before the 1989 quake, so I saw the old bay bridge to Oaktown prior to the partial collapse.
And I’ve never been a fan of Raiders fans (sorry, P-dogg), probably unfairly, but that whole dress-in-black gangsta horsecrap made me sick. Glad that fell apart as a consequence of the team having a bunch of losing years, oh, and moving to LA and then back.
This story was wonderful. I thought Jay’s dam was going to burst a couple of times as he told the story, and I know mine was.
I was in 4th grade. It was my first experience with race hatred- I got my ass beaten down for being white across the street from my Mom’s apartment, by a bunch of older kids I didn’t even see before the first blow landed. They glided up on bikes and dismounted on the fly behind me.
I refused and still do, to play the race-hatred game. That’s for morons who have nothing but simple-minded violence in their lives.
That was a long time ago. Right now if I had the pile of dough that I’d need to do it, I’d move back to a mountainous part of the West that I used to (later) live in and set up an inconspicuous, well-armed enclave.
Speaking of SF, Fifth generation San Franciscan. I love that city, but consider it occupied territory. I visit occasionally. Miss it, as it was.
If somebody, even an Oakland Raider, does something praiseworthy, then I’m all for that. :-)
Oh, I was there for the quake. The bridge looked the same after they fixed it as before.