People in SF are nice (San Jose, San Francisco: apartment, taxi, live)

[HappyinCali]

I had knee surgery, so for the past month, I have been on crutches. People are always opening/holding doors for me, on the bus, people hold the door so I can get off and offered seats. When I walk around, people nod at me and several have said "good luck, I had that surgery too, and it gets better fast”. A couple of people asked me what surgery I had had and how it happened. One guy interrupted his phone convo to open a door for me

So overall, I have had very pleasant experiences. I know it flies in the face of the mantra here that everyone is rude and an *******, but I just wanted to share.

[bmw335xi]

Glad to hear

[Bayarea4]

Thank you. I have lived in S.F. for over 30 years, and I always try to be kind and helpful to visitors. It makes me sad to read all the horrible things people say about my city and the people who live here. We're just people like everybody else.

[sav858]

I wish they were that curteous to people with strollers...most don't hold a door open in my experience and many times even cut me off and let the door close.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Perfect timing for this post for me.

I just drove down to the SF Bay Area to apply for an apartment in San Jose. Staying with a friend in Fairfield. Drove down from Crescent City which took 9 hours. Stayed up till 1am blabbing and imbibing with my friend. Got up and drove to SJ.

After the interview, I was so exhausted and distracted, that on my way back from SJ to Fairfield, I missed the fork to Hwy 80 towards Sacramento, and the next thing I knew, I was paying toll for the SF Bay Bridge!

I was so exhausted and almost started crying when I knew I was headed into SF at just about rush hour, and wasn't sure how I would find my way back to the bridge going back to Oakland. I have no data plan on my smart phone.

I got off at 9th Street, trusting my old instincts of how to maneuver SF. I have rarely driven in the city, even though I grew up across the bay.

Got off on 9th, found a place to park in a zone that looked like a taxi zone. There was a young man looking at his phone, apparently waiting for a ride. I asked him if he knew how to get back on the bay bridge from there, towards Oakland. He said just a minute, let me look at a map on my phone.

About a nanosecond later, he said that all I had to do was go around the block and he showed me how I would come out next to the gas station across the street, etc.

He was very polite about not just ignoring a stranger yelling from their call, let alone look up a map for me on his phone, etc.

I will say that the upside to being stuck in that rush hour (what kind of oxymoron is "rush hour" anyway?), was that I could look at the city. I still love it. With all it's warts.

Anyway, without him being willing to help a stranger in a truck, it would have taken me a lot more time, at best.

[nmnita]

there are nice people everywhere. It is just the rude ones stand out more.

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by sav858

I wish they were that curteous to people with strollers...most don't hold a door open in my experience and many times even cut me off and let the door close.

That happened to me, too, several times (with a double stroller with sleeping twin infants).

[sav858]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

That happened to me, too, several times (with a double stroller with sleeping twin infants).

Same here, I use a tandem stroller for my twins. Seems like many in SF despise people with strollers.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by sav858

Same here, I use a tandem stroller for my twins. Seems like many in SF despise people with strollers.

Unfortunately, I was never treated very kindly when I was hugely pregnant and had to stand on MUNI. Apparently, young 20-30 yr old San Francisco blow-ins don't like to be reminded of pregnancy.

[bmw335xi]

This should be common sense but I think a lot of people don't realize it, but if you are proactively kind to others, most people will be kind to you as well. This has been my experience in a small town in Alaska to Seattle to San Francisco to South Florida to Orlando to Australia and virtually everywhere I've traveled in the world, although surprisingly I do think America has some of the nicest people whether it's a blue state or red state. The key is to be proactively kind, meaning be kind first, intiate asking how are you etc.