Google Go Home!

The first time I saw one of these unmarked buses, I thought it was just a fancy foreign tourist bus. Then I found out the truth*- they're luxury "Google buses" that transport Google employees to and fro between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. They use public bus stops, often nudging out public transit buses so that they have to pick up their working class passengers in the middle of the street. These Google riders are the same elitist slime that are currently doubling rents in SF (already amongst the highest in the land) and encouraging landlords to evict elderly tenants, single mothers, you name it. They come and take at will, they expect to be served and catered to, and those who make less must defer and exit in their presence- they make no apology, offer no compromise, and if you complain or call them on their unlimited greed and callousness, will simply dismiss you as a whining loser. Case closed; earbuds need not be removed.

It's high time these people were made less comfortable, less welcomed. These ass wipes need to be taken down a few notches; I'm not advocating violence, I am advocating that they contribute and share- or get the fuck out. I'm not talking about nickel and dime contributions to a coupla charities, that doesn't in any way compensate for the long time residents they're single handedly kicking out. It's high time they realized they too are imperfect humans with faults and imperfections, and that they must share this space in a fair and equitable manner with fellow humans of all economic levels. Or... get the fuck out!

* if you think I exaggerate their complete arrogance and overriding ignorance- just read their comments...

Transit Art vs. Ads Ad Nauseum

Photo: Sara Fusco

Photo: Richard Sandler

I remember stopping dead in my tracks back in the early eighties in NYC upon first coming face to face with what talented graffiti artists could actually do when they went all out on a subway train- and that was in no small part because most graffiti just flat out sucked and had a pretty negative effect on one's everyday psyche. The great majority of it was to the painterly arts what the vast majority of Flickr is to its photographic counterpart. People bitched till they went numb- it helped defeat one mayor, and elect another.

Photo: Todd Hull

But I've yet to hear of any public furor anywhere decrying the commercial abominations now festooned over much of our public transportation systems the world over all in the name of the almighty, corporate dollar. Not satisfied with the billboards, posters and regularly placed cardboard inserts of yore- they now plaster over the little view we pay for, blotting out the occasional glimpses of sunlight with their massive, coma inducing logos and food by products galore.

I'll take graffiti any day...