Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys Their quality hasn't suffered in the least, it's pretty incredible. It's a hell of a lot more spit-shined than the sorta grimy drive-thru I grew up with, but the food hasn't changed a bit. My family's out picking some up right now. And I remember noticing that with Tommy's too, somebody took me on a pilgrimage out there once when I was a teenager and I thought that was the only one, but I've seen others around more recently, wasn't sure if it was the same thing.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I hate Happy Meals because in addition to the high fat food, your house gets infested with plastic crap toys that you constantly trip over. But this is going too far. I hope Bloomberg hasn't noticed
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys So, you can drink between 7 am and 11 pm as long as you don't sit or lay down? Drunks have to time it so that they stay up until 11:00 pm and don't fall down until 11:01 pm? Well, I'm glad they at least had the decency to make an exception for the Giants celebration parade. But that's just once every 50 years or so. Really, SF. It's going to be fun living around here!
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys My sister-in-law, when she was like 8 years old, went around the neighborhood collecting the plastic crap toys. She then invented her own fake currency, paid her siblings in said fake currency in exchange for doing her chores, and then let them buy her plastic crap happy meal toys from her using her own fake currency. So if you are an extremely intelligent 8 year old, happy meal toys don't get tripped over, they get your chores done.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys The sole purpose of that law is to keep the homeless from lounging around upsetting the rest of the folks. Portland keeps trying out laws like that but they never stick.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys So that means if I'm dressed nice and don't look like a homeless person then they'll let me sit down? But, if I sit down and I'm dressed crappy and didn't shower and shave and look like I could be homeless then they'll infract me?
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys what if you're drinking between said hours, but are reclining, instead of sitting or laying down?
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys What specifically kicked this law into gear is that the contingent of "homeless" in the Haight (which are more along the lines of wanna-be hippie trash) have gotten a lot nastier in recent years, very aggressive with residents and visitors alike, and that fact has gotten a lot of publicity.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I suppose this law gives law enforcement an excuse to arrest the aggressive wanna-be hippies. I'd think a better option would be to pass a law outlawing the harassment of residents and visitors. I guess it's easier for a cop to arrest somebody for allegedly sitting down than to arrest them for allegedly harassing somebody, but it seems unfair.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys But then you open up a can of worms about what constitutes harassment vs what is someone's free speech rights? It's a problem with no good solution though better services for the homeless and better access to care for the mentally ill might be good places to start.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys Man, I'm so glad my kids think Happy Meals are shit. Although they do dig McDonald's fries and their apple pies.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I agree. Upper Haight has some pretty unique problems. You get a lot of teens who run away from home, probably looking for their own "summer of love" and end up strung out and broke hitting up tourists for cash. Like the economy/mood of the country, the panhandling has taken on a darker mood in that neighborhood. My guess is a bunch of them would be happy with a bus ticket home.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys my little one's only 2, and although it can be annoying at times, it's kinda good in a way that he's allergic to milk. no mac n cheese, no pizza. lots of fruits and veggies. and he doesn't like fries. and we don't go to mcdonalds.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys The fries are indeed awesome, the apple pies are much better at Taco Bell, but the McDonalds ones don't suck.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I was in SF about 10 years ago and was amazed at all the homeless people. NYC's homeless population in the 80s per capita wasn't as bad.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys The problem with Taco Bell is I end up wanting to buy one of everything on the menu. So I try to avoid it if I can. Plus, that place is always hopping. There's a line regardless of the time of day.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys Having a tolerable climate nearly year-round helps in that. And it's actually gotten worse in the last 10 years. I never have any problems with them other than being annoyed sometimes, and they're everywhere in my work's neighborhood (Civic Center/SOMA). And I haven't been to the Upper Haight in a couple years, it's definitely a different crop of kids over there, Chris pretty much nailed it. They never used to bother me, but like I said, they've supposedly kicked it up a notch, being really aggressive about asking for money (borderline demanding it), physically threatening or attacking residents who complain about their presence. I don't know how much has been overblown by local media but it sounds like a bad scene.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys There are lots of homeless people in downtown Los Angeles as well, and they can be really aggressive. You have certain guys who "own" a particular block, and they don't let you park in there unless you give them money. Sometimes they get into fights over ownership of a particular block. But usually one guy "owns" the block and a few others help him out. The first time I went I almost got in a fight with a guy because he didn't want to let me park in an open space. He was blocking my way, so I slowly pulled forward and pushed him out of the way with the car, and he started cussing at me. But before my temper got the best of me, I figured that he probably wanted a buck, so I gave him one, and he smiled at me and said God bless you. I figured it was a wise investment. As I go quite often, now they all know me, and when they see me coming they save me a parking space. They also "protect" my car, so it doesn't get robbed, and they sometimes wash the windows, or help me out if I have some boxes to deliver. Not a bad service, except that it's sort of compulsory, if you don't want trouble. There was this Jamaican guy who used to "own" a block where I had some good customers so I often had to park there, so I used to see him all the time. He always called me "boss", saved me a parking space, washed my windshield, the whole deal. And I'd usually tip him two or three bucks. Then one time he disappeared for about a month. When he came back I asked him where he'd been, and he said he needed a vacation so he went to hang out at Venice Beach for a few days. "But I'm back, boss, ready to go". Actually he was a cool guy, all things considered. I didn't mind tipping him.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys San Francisco has always had policies that either push people onto the streets, or invite them to come from other nearby places. If you have had one thing on the taco bell menu, you have had everything. It is the only place I have ever seen that has 40 different items that are all made with the same 7 ingredients. I used to drive trucks in SF for a few years when I was younger, and SOMA was one of the places I frequented. I think I had the same impression...lots of homeless, but they were never problematic. It was the people in suits (mostly bankers) that were the big assholes. Maybe they were pissed because their banks weren't on the other side of Market.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys interesting. I didn't realize such things happened in civilized societies. in reading Sir Richard Burton's accounts of his travels in Africa, it seemed like that every region or town they came to, there was a chief or sultan who demanded some kind of payment (ghee, bakshis, blackmail - they had different names for it) that was usually paid out in beads and cloths. seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. so much for having a police department I guess. they're too busy writing tickets for victimless or other non-violent crimes to deal with real issues. I guess locking up aggressive bums doesn't pay as well as giving a middle class guy/gal a traffic ticket.
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I really liked SOMA and the Mission. Only place on the West Coast that I have been to that has a good urban vibe and places to live. (Never been to Seattle or Portland).
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys I was 20 when I moved to SF. It was winter. I had about $50 on me. I slept in Dolores Park before i got a job and rented a walk-in closet in the Mission. Let me tell you - not that tolerable. It was cold! Maybe because I moved from Southern California. Anyway... Memories...
Re: San Francisco Law Curbs McDonalds Happy Meal Toys Well unfortunately there are large pockets within this country that are nowhere near a "civilized society," it's just most middle class white folk never go anywhere near them. I remember during the time I lived in Oakland this local kid's car got smashed up with a bat because he'd been encroaching on the wrong territory, and none of the neighbors said a damn thing, they pretty much had their own rules and enforcers. And homeless guys get locked up all the time, mostly for public intoxication, and they're out on the streets quickly. They probably appreciate the occasional room and board, anyway.