Six are standing in the aisleway as the beast rolls on. Daly City melds into SF proper. The red brick buildings of San Francisco General Hospital. The buildings rise precipitously on both sides. The bus is jammed with a kaleidoscope of people.
Cars roll by and the sidewalks are jammed.
It buzzes, it's beautiful and it's where Tony Bennett left his heart. The uncertainty and sliver of fear that come with the challenge are real but energizing. It takes a few moments to get my bearings, so I fill up that time buying a copy of the Examiner and scanning the headlines as I find a seat in the bus kiosk across the street. Five minutes later I'm on the 66, feeling pretty good about myself. San Franciscans tell me with regret in their voice how the Haight has been gentrified, sold out, but to me it looks exactly the way it did 8 years ago.