Election Day and the knife's edge

Life is tense during the pandemic. . . and a little scary

The guy didn’t pull out the knife right away. For a while he was just pacing on the sidewalk, ranting and raving at two security guards.

They were unarmed and middle aged, wearing sweater vests and ball caps. They backed up as the guy advanced, holding their hands out in the universal sign for “we don’t want any trouble.” When he suddenly came at them, swinging his backpack, they turned and ran back a few steps.

He was young and skinny with sandy blonde hair. And he was out of control. For a moment it looked like it was over. He started walking away. But then something set him off. He pulled the knife out of his backpack and charged the older security guy, waving the blade in front of him.

The guard was understandably panicked. The knife guy, screaming, chased him into the street. He caught up to him and for a moment I thought he was going to stab him.

“Should we call 911?” the woman standing next to me asked. I didn’t know what to do.

I guess what I should have been doing was recording video. It was just so shocking to be standing in the doorway to Safeway, wondering if I was going to see someone get stabbed.

Now, this happened at three o’clock last Saturday afternoon, outside the Starbucks on King Street, half a block from the Giants’ ballpark. In the tidy, tech-filled neighborhood that some people call the “suburbs of San Francisco.”

I don’t think there’s anyone who would disagree that life in the pandemic has gotten edgier. It’s like there is a dial that has been twisted, amping everyone up a a little too much. The mentally unstable tip a bit more to instability. The irritable become more so. The anxious lie awake at night, thoughts churning.

And everybody’s a little paranoid.

The one I don’t get is crazy driving. What is it about being cooped up that makes people want to rip and tear around city streets?

As far as our knife guy, we didn’t call 911. He seemed to decide he’d made his point. He stopped charging the guard, turned around, packed up the knife and walked away. And I went into Safeway to do my shopping, walking past two security guards at the door.

The new normal.

If you haven’t been to downtown San Francisco lately, it is a trip. Where there would normally be hundreds of people walking up Powell or at the cable car turnaround, there is almost no one.

But there is a distinct menacing vibe. My wife, walking back home from downtown, was accosted twice. When she didn’t give a panhandler money, he followed her to keep asking. And then, on Market Street, a creep began walking next to her, asking “Do I make you uncomfortable?”

She ducked into Old Navy to get away from him, but it is a reminder of the value of civic engagement. On a pre-pandemic day, with crowds of shoppers and tourists, it would be much less likely for that to happen.

And now we hear that 500 homeless individuals, placed in city hotels are going to be moved out of their rooms, and, as the story says, “there’s still no clear plan on where they will live next.”

Seriously? Is that the San Francisco homeless plan in a nutshell. Move them from tents, to shelters, to navigation centers, to hotels . . . and then, well, we don’t really have anything for you.

Sorry for the rant, and positive posts will follow. But I just feel like I’m feeling like a lot of people are feeling — a little freaked out. Concerned something bad keeps happening with no good outcomes on the horizon. And everything is focussed on the election.

And, if you couldn’t tell, I am writing this on Nov. 3. I don’t think I’ve ever been through an election that I can feel in the pit of my stomach. I’m so involved I have turned off the TV.

Partly because I already know what the talking heads are going to say: “Florida and Georgia could be critical, there’s a chance in Texas, but the real ballbuster is Pennsylvania.” (OK, maybe they don’t say “ballbuster” on CNN.)

And also because it turns out I’m one of those anxious people who can spin themselves into a tizzy. If I hear one more of those “Trump still has a path to victory” I’ll need to be sedated.

I have disliked Trump since he ran in 2016. I keep saying, “How dumb does he think we are?” And he keeps topping himself. You can list all the appalling shortcomings, the lying, bullying, insulting and boasting. That’s not good behavior for anyone.

But when he sent troops in riot gear to charge protesters, it was the first time I was concerned. Does he really have a military force under his command? Would he use it to enforce his edicts? To stay in the White House?

I feel like we are all standing in front of Safeway, watching something scary. Surely he won’t stab that guy. Surely the country won’t support a man who looks at rising COVID-19 cases and claims everything is fine. Surely others feel as we do.

We are so in need of a hopeful sign. It doesn’t have to be a Coronavirus cure, just to know we are moving in the right direction.

And as I have felt in the pit of my stomach for weeks, this is that moment. Election Day. When Americans stand together and end this embarrassing and cruel presidency.

That will be civic engagement.

And now, this city, and the country, holds their breath.