On my ride during the 100 degree record breaking heat I stopped at Spreckels Lake Model Yacht Facility in Golden Gate Park to get some water.
I sat under a tree eating my almond butter and raspberry jelly sandwich when a masked little boy approached and asked if I wanted some lemonade. As a rule, when riding my bike I always stop to buy lemonade from kids. I also always over pay. I like to chat with the kids (first to make sure there is no high fructose corn syrup in the mix) and then to find out how business is going.
After he found out they used regular sugar, I asked for the strawberry lemonade. I clipped two dollars to my makeshift social distancing tool and had him put the cup down on the ground.
I told him that after I was done I was going to try the regular lemonade. Like a an excellent server he noticed when I had finished my first and brought me another. “This one is a special mix I made of strawberry and lemonade!” he proudly told me.
I wanted to take his photo so I asked a nearby parent for permission. She thanked me for asking and I told her I appreciated his mask wearing and politeness.
She told me about the girl who started it and how her friends joined in. In mid-sentence she stopped and said, “Excuse me, I need to keep an eye on one who’s heading to the far side of the lake.”
They sold so much lemonade that day they ran out of cups! Another mother, who I’m betting is in logistics said, “The staff is currently sourcing more cups.” When I left they were pre-selling lemonade for later delivery.
I told one mother I wanted to write about this because it was yet another example of empathy I was seeing from the residents of San Francisco for people who didn’t look like themselves. I follow RW media and know that in some parts of the country instead of seeing the generous spirit of these kids and their parents it would bedismissed as “Virtue Signaling.”
While most of us are thinking, ‘Aww isn’t that nice!” They would question the kids’ imperfect social distancing or mask wearing in order to flip it on its head with, ‘Those liberals tell everyone what to do but they don’t do it perfectly themselves!!!”
Why do they do this? Maybe they can’t bear seeing people showing empathy for others. They are always looking for a chance to shout “Hypocrite!” Maybe they don’t want to acknowledge that if they don’t even try to do the right thing nobody can attack them for not doing it perfectly.
To me these kids and their parents are showing the “San Francisco Values” that I know, it made me proud of my fellow citizens. In the future I expect great things from these kids because they care for others.
By the way, the lemonade was delicious, especially the special mix!
Live Long And Prosper SF kids!
-Spocko