Ok, I Get It.

My previous blog posts have playfully made fun of the Marina and its residents. I joke about their lack of culture. Mock the lack of diversity and generally portray it as neighborhood for those who are scared of the real world.

Today, however, I get it. Recent events have made me understand the desire to retreat
into the safety of familiarity.

I came home from school last Wednesday to find out that a man had been shot to death just half a block from my apartment. He was gunned down in broad daylight on a crowded street. This was the second murder on my block in under a year.

For contrast, the Marina as a whole has had just one murder since 2007.

I’m a small-town kid. A big police story where I come from is when someone puts dish soap into the town fountain -I'll never forget the bubble riots of '97. I have never experienced the reality of the big city to the depth I have recently. San Francisco can be a pretty scary place.

I totally understand the desire to insulate oneself within a neighborhood like the Marina. I want that kind of safety now and I don’t have children or expensive possessions.

Previously I saw Marina residents unaware people living in a bubble. Granted, there surely are people like that. Yet I realize now that a large number are probably people just like me, people who had the city slap them in the face.

I know now that it wasn’t mindless migrationary instincts that herded folks to the Marina, but rather a conscious choice based on priorities. Yes a sacrifice in authenticity is required, but comfort and safety just take precedent for some people.

I get it Marina. In my future, I hope I don’t make the same choice, but I get it.