Random Acts of Kindness on the Golden Gate

I am a rare breed. I grew up in San Francisco. I don’t live there full-time anymore but when I do make it my home and find myself chatting with strangers they’re seemingly all shocked that I actually grew up IN the city. A native becomes a rare thing in a city that has experienced such a massive influx of young people chasing tech dollars. Before battles over tech busses and the googlificatoin of neighborhoods there was a means to gift a random act of kindness that we no longer have. Before fastrack and no-stopping toll pay, back in the day when you actually had to pass over a few dollars in cash people occasionally paid the toll for a few cars behind them. Though it was only a few dollars it was a random act of kindness that represented the generosity and playfullness of the bay area.  It didn’t happen so often...but that rare moment of coming up to the toll booth and having the cashier smile and wave you on saying that the person before you had paid your toll reinvigorated my love for the bay and its smiling people. It was a small thing , but regardless it was something that made people smile. I am not a tech-hater and am open to the growth and change of a city but every time I come back to San Francisco I feel that the sense of playful generosity is disappearing.  Pass something on today. Do a random act of kindness. See how it feels. Give someone else the feels.