Just got home from an exhilarating drive. We had just re-entered the city from a Northward excursion to buy moving boxes (and that's a story for another post). As we turned left on Bay from the Marina, eastbound traffic ground to a halt.
We were treated to a rare sight in this laid back town. Row after row after row of police officers on motorcycles, riding in formation down the westbound lanes. Something unusual was surely afoot. As traffic in my lane inched forward, the street was suddenly lined with people. The gnomes in my head spun gears furiously, and came up with the answer: The Olympic torch! Today is its day in San Francisco.
As if to confirm this, a large bus turned left onto Bay from Van Ness, and a couple of athletes holding an unlit torch got out. They were clearly the next leg of the relay. As soon as they had taken position on the street, groups of protesters converged just feet away from them. All peaceful, but holding banners with "Free Tibet" written in foot-high letters, or holding the Tibetan National Flag.
Traffic inched forward, and very soon all we could see was SFPD blue as the City's finest put on their best effort to smooth the flame's passage. I must mention in passing that I had no idea San Francisco had this many officers. The crowd lining the street started getting restive, and all eyes were converging on a spot further up Van Ness. Drivers ahead of us gave up all pretense of wanting to make progress, and soon we were all standing in the street, craning our necks up the street.
For that extra bit of surreality, a gentleman popped out of the car next to ours and pulled out a large picture of the Dalai Lama seemingly from thin air. And a minute later, the Olympic flame, surrounded by SFPD officers in formation reminiscent of a Roman phalanx, passed by less than 6 feet away from us. The crowd was cheering the flame, and simultaneously waving dozens of Tibetan flags. Only in San Francisco!
And what a contrast from five years ago, when I saw the Olympic torch in downtown San Jose. Then, a crowd of a few dozen cheered, as an athlete flanked by two police officers carried the flame through downtown. Today, in contrast, felt more like a seige. And yet, seeing the Olympic flame on its way is something to be glad about.
Upon arriving home and getting online, I discovered that we had been more fortunate than we thought. The original 6 mile route across San Francisco that had been charted out for the torch was abruptly truncated to 3 miles. And yet, we got to see the flame - controversy, glory and all - because of a split second choice to drive home along the Marina instead of the highway. We did cross the Golden Gate bridge earlier, where all is quiet today, after this excitement yesterday.
Today, more so than most days, Tibet has vocal friends in the city by the bay.
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Update:
This had to be quoted, from mainstream news reports on the subject:
"As runners carry the torch on its six-mile route, they will compete not only with people protesting China's grip on Tibet and its support for the governments of Myanmar and Sudan, but also with more obscure activists. They include nudists calling for a return to the way the ancient Greek games were played."
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