Last week, I visited the Bay Area for a business trip. Most of my time was spent in the South Bay, but I also spent a day in SF.

In the afternoon, I went to Ocean beach and dipped my feet in the Pacific Ocean for a tiny bit. The water was pretty cold! Where I live, we have beautiful landscapes but the country is landlocked, so going to ocean shore is special for me.

After walking along a beautiful path over the cliffs for a while, it was time to go back to the city center. I chose a Muni bus, line 1 as it happens. The bus mostly goes in a straight line, but it takes a long time as there are many stops. But I saw something fascinating happening on that bus. Let me explain.

The prevailing narrative in the media about SF is that it’s somehow “dead” and a crime-ridden hellhole, and that there are homeless people everywhere. And I can kind of see how you would get this impression if all you do is drive a car and spend time in the financial district.

But in this bus, I saw a different kind of San Francisco. I saw a city that is busy and thriving. I saw a slice of normal people living normal lives.

Most of all, I saw kindness. Many of the seats were reserved for disabled and senior people. Every time an older person came in, immediately someone got up and offered their seat. Someone came with a bag full of groceries and got help carrying it.

Most endearing of all, a little girl was taking the bus with her dad, and a lady made her press the stop button so that she could get out. She turned it into a fun little game and made the girl understand that she can take actions that have an actual consequence – stopping the bus in this case. The girl was delighted.

These residential neighborhoods – Richmonds, Nob Hill, etc. – look like great places to live, with great people. From what I saw, San Francisco is doing a lot better than you might think. And the people are much more sane than the distorted image that Social Media is showing you.

It has been a good reality check.