San Franciscans, I’m proud of us.
Our city is testing about 2,500 people a day for the coronavirus, and only about 1% of those tests are coming back positive. Hospitalization rates are dropping, and there are plenty of empty beds available. City residents and our leaders believe in science, don’t consider the virus a hoax and don’t have a conniption fit if a shopkeeper rightly reminds us to put on our mask. Of course, other parts of California are seeing spikes in coronavirus cases, and we must continue to be vigilant in maintaining social distance and wearing masks or we could be locked down once again.
It’s also important to remember that as our city continues to reopen — we can finally get our hair cut June 29! — we should avoid the inevitable rush to return to “normal.” After all, some parts of pre-COVID life weren’t all that great anyway.
A few weeks ago, I shared my list of silver linings of sheltering in place that should remain long after the virus has dissipated and asked readers to share theirs. And boy, did you.
On my list was keeping roads like JFK Drive, Twin Peaks Boulevard and the Great Highway closed to cars and open to pedestrians, bicyclists and everybody else. They are delightful just the way they are. I also believe all kids deserve access to the computers and good internet connections they finally started to receive for virtual learning — and it’s shameful such a rich, tech-obsessed city has struggled to make that a reality.
Readers had long lists of their own silver linings that we should push to keep, too.
Grocery stores should make senior shopping hours for older folks and disabled people permanent. Doctors and pharmacists should make telemedicine available whenever possible. Many people have enjoyed having fewer Uber and Lyft cars double-parking with abandon and clogging our streets. People have marveled at the clear air and enjoyed the birdsong that’s no longer masked by traffic noise.
Other silver linings? Parking in downtown San Francisco for a mere 50 cents per hour. Saving money on gas — and pretty much everything else. Slowing down to appreciate the small things like family lunches and reading a good book. Exploring new parts of the city on foot. A government that actually responds quickly rather than revels in red tape.
And enjoying newfound talents.
“I was able to add a new skill to my LinkedIn profile: social distancing!” quipped Joanne Babin.
Here are some more of readers’ silver linings:
Bicycles are back: It seems like every other message on my neighborhood parents’ email list relates to buying and selling used bikes. My bike has finally been removed from the back corner of the garage and actually, gasp, ridden, and it’s in good company.
“Biking in San Francisco has never been more popular,” said Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “Bike shops can’t keep bikes on the shelves, and attendance at our online adult education classes is up 300%.”
Many people are avoiding public transportation for fear of contracting the virus, and as the roads once again get more clogged with cars, driving isn’t exactly a fun alternative. Bicycling, several readers pointed out, is a fun, relatively virus-free way to get around.
Jeff Sears, owner of Blazing Saddles, has long specialized in renting bikes to tourists and had to close all of his San Francisco storefronts in March during shelter-in-place. They weren’t considered essential businesses, and there weren’t any tourists in town anyway.
But he started getting surprising calls from locals asking if he’d sell bikes to them. Some wanted bikes for exercise, and some wanted them for transportation.
He sold a few hundred of his rental bikes to ensure some money was coming in and eventually changed his Hyde Street location into a shop selling and repairing bikes. Sears commutes there from his home in Marin via — you guessed it — a bicycle.
“It’s the best part of the day,” he said.
Bicycles are great for the environment, and the city should speed up its commitment to ensuring biking the streets of San Francisco is a safe, enjoyable endeavor so our bikes aren’t once again relegated to garage corners.
Fostering animals is popular: Not everybody’s devoting their spare time to sourdough starters. Several readers said they adopted or fostered an animal during shelter-in-place, and they’re grateful they finally took the leap.
In fact, finding an animal to take in is like hitting the jackpot. Fostering dogs and cats has become so popular, the waiting list at the San Francisco SPCA is more than 5,000 people long.
Jennifer Scarlett, president of the San Francisco SPCA, said shelters for years have tried to put animals into foster families until they’re ready for adoption. That could involve rehabilitating an injured animal, caring for an emotionally scarred animal or helping a newborn kitten get old and big enough to be spayed or neutered before adoption.
Scarlett said it’s stressful for animals to be in an institutional environment, and it’s better for them to be in homes until they’re ready to be placed on the shelter’s adoption floor. And people in recent months have had the urge for connection and the time to devote to caring for an animal, making it a win-win.
“It really speaks to the better parts of our angels,” Scarlett said. “Is this just a moment in time or is this a new way to think about shelters?”
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Making real connections: It’s one thing to see what your old high-school classmate is posting on Facebook. It’s quite another to pick up the phone and actually, you know, talk.
Several readers said the isolation of shelter-in-place has prompted them to reach out to long-lost friends, chat with little-known neighbors and strike up conversations with strangers in the grocery store line. From 6 feet away, of course.
Michael Fullerton, 80, has a list of 25 old friends and calls at least one every day in rotation. He’s called a woman he dated in his 30s, his freshman year roommate and old high-school friend he hadn’t seen in 20 years.
Asked how he starts the sometimes out-of-the-blue conversations, he said, “I just say who it is. ... At one time or another, I knew these people well enough that I thought maybe they’d want to hear from me. As far as I can tell, I was right.”
He also keeps up with his book club, a group of old Peace Corps friends and a Sunday brunch group on Zoom.
It breaks up the monotony of sheltering in place. That and reading The Chronicle, which he’s been keeping up with for 62 years. You’re a wise man, Mr. Fullerton.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
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