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Famous intersection offers life lessons By
Christopher Kromer SAN FRANCISCO Standing on the street corner, the wind blowing my tousled hair with roaring fury, it begins to strike me that there is more to this intersection than meets my young eyes. Shooting an investigative glance in every direction, my childlike curiosity feeds on a frenzy of eccentric sights: tie-dyed t-shirt vendors, pipe and bong stores, long-haired smiling musicians crouched on the sidewalk, providing a serene and transcending soundtrack for such an odd scene. A benevolent energy seems to permeate the air, perhaps generated by the spirit of the past ... This isn't just any intersection. This is the corner of Haight and Asbury in San Francisco. In the 1960s, this peculiar site became the epicenter of the fabled "hippie" movement. Today, its legacy continues to endure amidst the rubble of a changing society and a confused culture. The idealism of yesteryear peace, love, tolerance is conspicuously absent in today’s world, but enchanted places such as the corner of Haight and Ashbury provide a convenient and much-needed portal to the past. The most pervasive value associated with Haight-Ashbury is tolerance. Members of the Flower Power Generation congregated in this urban sanctuary, finding freedom from the reproach of their parents and other conservative members of society. Even today, Haight is filled with non-conforming "freaks" who have not been given a niche in our ultra-rigid social structure. This neighborhood, however, provides a home for such people, celebrating their diversity and embracing their alternative modes of dress, speech and sexuality. What many would dismiss as a skid row of societal decay might actually impart a bit of age-old wisdom to young people of our generation. There are many lessons to be learned from the people and places of Haight-Ashbury. Chiefly among these are the reservation of judgment of those who are marginalized by society and the acceptance of unconventional ways of life. Perhaps the current generation, with its love of excessively violent video games and its prevalence of school shootings, should pay more attention to cultural temples such as Haight-Ashbury. The peace and joy of living propagated by the neighborhood’s hippies in the 1960s profoundly changed American culture, and maybe it is time for our society to take another look at this revered region. Like any other center of subculture, Haight-Ashbury has its ugly side, evidenced by its multitude of pipe stores, drug users and drinking establishments. Stores in the area offer everything from bongs to ecstasy, from satanic worship guides to marijuana handbooks. Although critics often point to the negative stigma surrounding Haight, the effects of a visit to the district can only be beneficial. The variety of people one encounters in Haight-Ashbury forces the guest to reevaluate his or her opinion of society and the ways in which rebellious individualists are shoved aside by our non-permissive social castes. For some, the neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury fills the mind with awe; for others, it jogs the memory; and for many, it fills the soul with an unprejudiced sense of home. But for all who are fortunate enough to visit the area, Haight-Ashbury opens the mind to new ideas and new experiences. For this reason, the appreciation for and preservation of Haight-Ashbury is essential to the survival of a free society.
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Tribune Chronicle