Happy Halloween

It's Halloween in San Francisco. I don't know if you really understand what that means. I said, "IT'S HALLOWEEN IN SAN FRANCISCO!!!!!!!!!" We are talking streets clogged with people from the north bay, the east bay, the south bay, not to mention every single college student who attends school and lives in San Francisco. Did I mention that we have a University of San Francisco (Jesuit run), a San Francisco State University (state run), A University of California San Francisco (medical sciences, state run), Golden Gate University (private, schools of business and law), Hastings College of the Law (state run-sort of), City College of San Francisco (city run junior college), Academy of Art college (private run), and the San Francisco Arts Institute (private run). Guess where a whole bunch of their students are going to be on the night of October 31st? On our streets, that's where.
Halloween used to be the city's premiere gay holiday. The history of gay Halloween is an interesting one. During the fifties, Halloween was the one day that drag queens were legal. That is, the police department wouldn't arrest a guy who dressed up as a woman on Halloween, as long as at midnight, the guy turned into a pumpkin and became invisible. Legend has it that the police chief used to escort the Empress of San Francisco, Jose Sarria, to the Black Cat bar and said "OK Jose, it's your night."
Later, as the Castro district came into it's own as the city's main gay neighborhood, festivities moved over there. Since there was no admission fee to enter the neighborhood, various cool and uncool straight people started to join in the celebration.
The teenage gangs pretty much fucked up Halloween. They drank, they attacked people, they acted like the assholes they were. Today, Halloween requires a massive police presence to make it more or less safe. It is no longer a gay holiday. Talk about getting your culture ripped off by strangers.
Cabbies will have a good night. Also, bars that stay open. There is no alcohol allowed on the street. Forget about getting a cab. Muni is going to be festive/insane. I'll go, since the Castro isn't that far from where I live. But around midnight, I'll walk home. This is not a night to stay out until closing time.