Advice column: Ask Me & ChatGPT, Is San Francisco going to be alright?

Today's experiment: An advice column written by Me and by ChatGPT. Same prompt, separate paths to an answer. A (mis)use of the technology I'm digging.

Core idea: The last 5 things typed into ChatGPT = a spotlight into our souls, I mean minds. It can be telling and awesome, nerdy human / computer interaction.

Settle in. I love tight words that tease. This is not that.

The prompt: Dear Ask Me & ChatGPT,

Is San Francisco going to be alright? I’m worried for San Francisco. It’s rough here right now.

Love, Is it still safe to leave my heart in SF?

First: Ask Me answer (Ask ChatGPT's answer is after this one)

Dear ‘Is it still safe to leave my heart in SF?’

Your question has been swirling in my mind like a song at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass - or 24 year old me dancing at the Boom Boom Room. I lived in the Upper Haight for 20ish years. A neighborhood that is slightly off the rails on a great day, wearing a complicated disguise of 1960’s peace and love legacy. When the pandemic hit, it derailed like the man who had a bad meth trip on our front stoop and rang our doorbell for 5 hours straight.

The same front stoop where I took pictures with my newborn daughter when we got home from the hospital on the hill with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.?

The same stoop that we put a free little library on during Covid as the Slow Street in front of our home became community. We locked that little library to the stair railing with a bike lock so no one would steal it.?

My point is this - the San Francisco I know has always been a city of extremes. Of polarizations. Locals never do this, but if you take the double decker bus tourist tour this will scream at you.?

On that bus, rounding the corner to get on the Golden Gate Bridge is magical. There is an audible ahh from everyone on the open air, foggy, bought-a-fleece-in-Fisherman’s-Wharf, freezing unless it’s September, top. Later the bus cuts through the Tenderloin to get to Civic Center and it is shocking. Gritty, dirty, chaotic, people trading sex and shooting up in tents that are open windows to the destitution that exists in a city with incredible wealth. This is the neighborhood that Glide Memorial Church sings (and brings) hope into every Sunday.?

I have hope for the city that mid-pandemic made me feel like a right-wing Republican. I am not a right-wing Republican. Which you know because I lived in San Francisco.?

Mid-pandemic the school district made equality frustratingly all or nothing, while focusing on strangely researched school renaming. And I am pro-equality. People struggled with addiction and mental health openly and overtly on the street. And I get the civil right challenges between autonomy and help. Organized crime meant broad daylight smash and grabs. Mid-pandemic I got swept up in virus slip streams and fear. Fear combined with empathy and care. Like your question.?

This Covid cautious city girl left San Francisco for in-person school and fields of cows we could eat during a pandemic food shortage. The crystal ball of the Geary Target shelves pointed towards a food shortage. We fled for a deeper bench of family to pull from if we got sick.

We left San Francisco under the cover of Covid darkness. Hugging and gathering to say goodbye were off limits. We waved through windows. We left after a lovely Halloween where people gave out candy via pvc pipes and well aimed throws. In the post-surge, vaccination available lens, it’s hard to remember that it was scary. In a city of world renowned medical science, it was scary. ?

I believe that for every person who left, there is a person who didn’t or couldn’t or never wants to live anywhere else. There’s a person who arrives and gets to discover their Gus’s Market or Rock Band Land or Club Deluxe or piano night in the Botanical Gardens. I feel excited for all of those people.

Your question is entangled with my experience. To overtly answer it, I do think San Francisco will be alright. And I’m also worried. As I get older I realize I can hold these things at the same time. Even if they conflict.

Maybe I learned that from San Francisco itself.

I add this, I am willing to leave my heart in San Francisco. In fact, I did. The people I know there will hold it with care and love and incredible march-in-the-streets-at-the-drop-of-a-dime hopefulness for advocacy and change. I’ve heard the fog horns, loved morning clap-ins at a SFUSD neighborhood school, held protest signs in beautiful crowds, biked Headlands Loop at the break of dawn, visited almost every library and playground in the city... I’ve walked Chrissy Field a thousand times. Oh the people. Yay the people.

After 25 years, leaving part of my heart in San Francisco was the only option.?You and your heart know what's best for you.

I will not though be leaving my heart, or anything else, in a parked car.

Love, Me

Second: Ask ChatGPT answer

As an AI language model, I don't have the ability to predict the future or make judgments about safety. However, I can provide some general information about the current situation in San Francisco.

Like many cities around the world, San Francisco has faced some challenges recently, including economic inequality, homelessness, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the city has a long history of resilience and has implemented various measures to address these issues.

In terms of safety, San Francisco, like any city, has its share of crime and safety concerns. It's always important to be aware of your surroundings, take precautions, and follow local safety guidelines.

Ultimately, whether or not you feel it's safe to leave your heart in San Francisco is a personal decision that depends on your individual circumstances and experiences. It's always a good idea to stay informed about the situation in the city and to take steps to ensure your safety and well-being.

Love, ChatGPT (Closing added by Me)