STRAIGHT FROM THE MIKE….The City I Once Knew

Like many of you, I bet, we have fond memories of days gone by with a natural desire, oftentimes, to return back for an encore. Oh, how I wish that would be possible, in my case, for my absolute favorite city, San Francisco, the city by the bay.

Fortunately, I had a brother that lived in Oakland and every chance I got, whether it was a business trip or personal vacation, I would make San Francisco one of my stops. Oh my, how the worm has turned.

It was a magnificent city, with superb restaurants, boss seafood; breathtaking scenery, and a climate to simply take your feet off the ground. A visit to Fisherman’s Wharf was always a treat. Add to that a jump across the bay to Sausalito with brunch at the now-closed Alta Mira.

The brunch would consist of eggs benedict and a hip cocktail called the Silver Fizz. The overall experience made one feel truly like heaven on earth was indeed within reach. There is a great public golf course set in Lincoln Park overlooking the San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge in the backdrop. Playing the course was like nirvana on steroids for me. However, fast forward to today. What the heck happened to the city of San Francisco?

I am reminded of a verse in from the Negro spiritual, “Sinking Low”. “Sinking low, sinking low. I’m on my way down, Lord. I don’t care no mo.”

How do we allow such beautiful areas of our nation like San Fran to go to Hades in a handbasket? 

Look, I realize that there are three kinds of luck; good luck, bad luck, and no luck. It surely appears to me that the combination of drugs, crime, despair, Godliness, and poor leadership has allowed for a breeding of the misguided, the downtrodden, and destitute folk to become embodied in our cities blowing ill wind that bodes no good and little, if any, luck.

Let’s be frank, it is later than we think. Our cities, our communities are in abject decline. My college city of St. Louis has become nothing short of ‘Tombstone Territory’.  A city now where running out of gas or having a flat tire can best be described as the double exposure and again, bad luck.

It is clear to me that it is going to take a new vanguard, an army of normal folk, irrespective of political party but set on benchmarks of excellence, an understanding of human nature, a love of God and one another to turn the ship around.

It is critically important that we seize the moment and harness the energy and motivation necessary to uncover the treasures in the field lying there waiting for discovery. The solutions exist, and the answers are present. We just need the aforementioned individuals to step forward.

The line forms over here. 

I remain Micahel Murphy….