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The Sky Is Not Falling
2 December 2022
In our morning survey of photographic sites today we ran across a post on one particular site that was so off the charts that we didn't include it in today's Around The Horn.
The Sky Aloft. Even if the sky were to fall on the city, we have engineered solutions to keep it from falling into the streets.
But, as a San Franciscan, we didn't want to ignore it.
With no personal evidence, and in fact after the admission that he hasn't photographed in San Francisco in years, Lloyd Chambers claimed it is unsafe to be seen in the city with a camera:
Your only safe option is to never go to places like San Francisco, a haven for criminals and drug addicts and the morally depraved politicians and the people who vote them in: your rights mean nothing and the rights of criminals, now often in organized gangs, take precedence.
Shortly after listing a few horror stories, he went on a screed against the police and the DA and, well, progressives (you always need three of a kind for lists like that):
The police have become a clean-up crew, affording you no protection. A privileged class who can protect themselves on and off duty and even when retired‚ but not you or I without special dispensation from the State. But I don't blame the police in these matters -- it's the DA and progressive ideology that keep them from doing their jobs. So we all have to live with the breakdown of civilization ... and people keep voting for that.
Chambers, we recall, years ago went on a screed against his obligation to make himself available for jury duty. As a sole proprietor, he argued, the obligation did not apply to him. We find it ironic he now complains the system isn't protecting people like him.
This latest screed seems to have been prompted by the afternoon robbery of the Leica Store downtown.
When something like that happens, every past robbery and murder is recited like a litany. It reminds us of the local TV news wringing its hands about The Big One every time there's a quake anyone has noticed.
Precipitation doesn't mean the sky is falling, even if you're getting wet.
Yes, people have been robbed of their camera gear in San Francisco and have even on rare occasion been murdered during some of those robberies.
The police are not responsible for these crimes. Nor is the District Attorney (every one of which has been blamed for everything that happens around here). And "progressive ideology" means just what exactly? Anyone without a red cap?
The perpetrators are responsible for the crimes. Just to clarify.
Unlike Chambers, we have lived and worked in San Francisco for many, many decades. And still do. We have, as our Friday Slide Shows testify, shot all over the city with our dSLRs and mirrorless cameras. We walk the streets for miles every day. With a camera. We are not afraid.
Only once in all these years, at a tourist spot, were we cased for our gear.
There is a risk any time you leave your house (or even stay in it should The Big One hit). But when you are low on milk, you take that risk.
It doesn't take courage.
Over the last two years we've met dozens of young men and women in the medical profession who do not hesitate to drive vehicles loaded with medical supplies into the toughest neighborhoods to provide healthcare to the homebound patients in their care.
They know what we know. And what Lloyd Chambers does not know. San Francisco.