Keeping the faith in times of COVID, fires and general malaise

Let's face it, this is discouraging

In our neighborhood it was seven o’clock. That’s when we’d go out to decks, front doors and parks and make a commotion of appreciation for the medical workers who were treating COVID-19 patients. (Also the cashiers and food service employees.)

There were howls, pan-banging and sometimes people walking down the sidewalk would spontaneously burst into applause. It turned into a ritual (although to be fair my wife often had to remind me.) We regulars would wave at each other, way over there on a faraway deck.

The howlers stopped first, I think. There have been fewer pan-bangers for a while. And last night I went out and there wasn’t a sound.

So what was I going to do? Stand there are clap by myself?

I went in.

People are getting discouraged. I know I am. I think we all had an idea that we’d see little touchstones of normalcy. And we’d stack those up until we could do one big cheer for the medical workers, shake hands and congratulate ourselves for indomitable spirit.

But every time we try a step forward, we stumble. Last week Muni announced it was re-starting train service. That lasted two days before a worker tested positive for COVID-19, an overhead wire split and service was shut down.

Schools can’t figure out how to hold classes. Every day brings news of more businesses, large and small, closing permanently. Union Square is encased in plywood. And don’t tell me we aren’t all more irritable and short-tempered.

Which makes the fires seem like an unjust burden. Living in this area, close enough to see and smell the smoke, those stories of loss and tragedy seem real and horrible. Those photos of people standing in front a home reduced to ashes and singed bricks, are heartbreaking.

And now they happen year after year. They are the ones who suffered the loss, of course, but I can stop wondering how it will ever be OK for them. I feel like the guy who was quoted in a news story last week:

“I’m tired of being resilient.”

This, of course, is not the right attitude. We should call on our better selves and actually live up to all those, “We’re in this together” posters.

Jerry Seinfeld wrote a ringing op-ed in The New York Times basically saying, get over yourself you big baby. Seinfeld is writing a defense of New York City, but it is really about the conventional wisdom that big cities are being hollowed out by work-anywhere employees.

It’s good. Seinfeld makes some smart points.

But the evidence is pretty undeniable. I can give you the anecdotal — there are nine units for sale right now in our building — and the data. A Business Journal story said that there haven’t been this many condos on the market in San Francisco since 2011.

And as we also know, a lot of those people have the same idea. I would just say it is amazing that for a sophisticated country, we have a remarkable tendency to be lured into a stampede. I give you the great toilet paper shortage of the spring.

At some point a bright young techie said, hey, we can buy a place in Tahoe and work remotely.

And you’ve probably already seen the result of that. J.K. (should be a columnist) Dineen has all the details in today's story about the boom in sales in Truckee. Worth the read, but the quick takeaways are homes sold in July are up 56 percent from last year and the average home price is up 26 percent.

It’s a land rush. Dineen’s story says some properties are getting as many as 50 bids.

Which is fine, if you want to go country. I might ask if you are you sure you want to commit to a place in the California forest right now, but it is your call.

I’d just say that this whole awful malaise is going to be over at some point. And granted, it may take a lot longer away than we hope. But when it is, I’d think about where I want to be.

When I was in college, my dream was to live in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies. Now I’d give myself three months there before I started talking to my hair brush.

I like living in the city. And I especially liked it when I could walk to a good restaurant. And then walk to another one another night.

I know a lot of those are gone now. If we learned anything it is that lots of businesses can survive for a short time on reserve savings. But that gets eaten up surprisingly quickly. And they simply don’t have the money to stay open — even at 50 percent capacity with an outdoor restaurant.

But that money didn’t evaporate into the ozone. A lot of it was mortgage and rent payments and went to banks and real estate firms. When sanity returns, it says here, investors will have that money and will be looking to invest it again. That’s how they make their profit. And those empty restaurants, bars and stores will be turnkey ready for a new chef with a vision.

As Seinfeld says, “You think Rome is going away too? London? Tokyo?”

He’s right. Great cities have their own energy and culture. And he’s staying.

“I will never abandon New York City. Ever,” he wrote.

And for those of us who are discouraged about our own great city, Seinfeld says:

“Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.”

I’m trying.

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Big Ten parents take leave of their senses

When the Big Ten went along with the Pac-12 and decided not to hold a college football season this year, it seemed like the right thing to do.

And almost everyone agreed, except for the parents of football players. As I wrote in Sundays Santa Rosa Press Democrat column the parents have formed a group to INSIST that their sons be allowed to play football this fall. They are demanding the right to put their kids a risk for a potentially fatal virus.

We could say it is the height of cluelessness, but southern schools have already topped them. They are not only going to play football, schools like Georgia Tech are going to allow some 13,000 fans. They’ll be required to wear face masks, but only until they get to their seat. And of course, alcohol will be served.

What could possibly go wrong?

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The 49ers are taking it to the edge

I think it is possible that I made every single “edge” pun in existence in the Inside the 49ers blog I posted in the Press Democrat.

But it is kind of cool. Everybody is talking about the edge rushers, Dee Ford and Nick Bosa, compared to the offensive tackles, Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey.

The Bosa-Williams battle has been a featured matchup so far at camp.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Compliments and suggestions gratefully accepted. Criticism not so much. Twitter: @cwnevius