It was a once-in-a-lifetime event. The Olympic torch’s solitary North American stop was San Francisco, so carrying the flame through our city symbolized our embrace of the Olympic spirit, save that one minor detail concerning the host country of this year’s competitions. It’s sad that having the games held in China has overshadowed the actual athletic contest (thus far), and activists are using the controversy as a launching pad for their own little soapboxes.
But no, all I wanted was to see someone tackle a runner.
Our office was a scant two blocks away from the official route, so we took a stroll down to the waterfront to catch a glimpse of the action. It was, as expected, a sea of crazy: banners and signs everywhere, people shouting incomprehensible slogans, and clashes between pro-Chinese supporters (much more than I had expected, although reports say the Chinese consulate shipped them in from elsewhere) and free-Tibet-now demonstrators.
More pics can be found in the album. (I’d post them here but a recent software upgrade broke parts of the site)
After milling around for an hour, I decided to head back to the stretch of road along the office, where crowds were much more sparse and I could maybe actually see the torch. Little did I know the torch was well on its way down a street two miles away, and the most I, along with thousands of others lined up along the waterfront, would see of Olympic fire was this:
Mind you, none of the police officers or event organizers informed the waiting crowds, although this is assuming some were aware of alternate route. Spectators and protesters alike grew restless as it became apparent the torch bearers were taking too long, but thanks to the magic of cell phones and wireless internet, news got out and people rushed to the new route, due somewhere west from the look of hovering helicopters.
So some of us ran our own little Olympic solo relay (an oxymoron, I know), chasing after aircraft constantly shifting and hinting at where the torch might be. Turns out it’s pretty hard to find something in a metropolitan area without knowing where it is:
I ended up in Ghirardelli Square, catching my breath and thinking the torch would come back along this street since they still had a party back at the Embarcadero Square. My guidance choppers, though, slowly faded into the horizon and the small group of torch watchers disbanded.
But only after watching a guy wiggle his way out of a straight-jacket. Ah, San Francisco; where would you be without your hippies, weirdos, activists, and geeks?