San Francisco –Where the homeless never sleep, so neither did we

Our four days in San Francisco were filled with interesting moments.  Vince was the lead driver for the advance trailer load in for Lion King. Advance trailer load ins typically involve two to four trailers, but a big show like this meant 14 trailers, one more than the usual 13 because they needed new or additional chain motors.

The week was anything but typical in the city that is known for its homeless population.  I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect, although since a few years back San Fran was where I witnessed my first individual smoking crack between two cars right next to our truck I should have known to expect that anything could happen.  

When we arrived on Monday night it was in a pouring rainstorm.  Vince and Bruce, the lead driver for Lion King show to show moves walked the perimeter to see if a wooden dock had been built for the load in, then they returned to the trucks.  All night despite the pouring rain we heard shopping carts being pushed by the truck and then there would be yelling, shopping carts then more yelling, all night long.

In the morning, I quickly learned that the area around the Orpheum Theatre is a big hang out for the homeless population.  Having worked at Faith Mission, a homeless shelter in Columbus, I am not bothered or afraid of the homeless, but must admit the number of mental health homeless in San Francisco was surprising to me.  But I believe there were just as many non-mental health homeless. Honestly, it was just the pure number of them in the city that was so shocking.

Now where in most cities we will get knocks on the door at all hours of the day and night asking for money.  We never once were bothered the whole week by anyone.  However, we also never got a good night sleep due to the constant street traffic throughout the night and yes I know we were in there space so I shouldn’t complain, but it is a sad situation and unlike them Vince didn't have the opportunity to take a nap during the day.  It wasn't until we got to Ripon, CA on Friday night that I realized how noisy the city had been.  When I stepped back into the sleeper that evening I was taken back by the silence.

On the it’s a small world after all front, on the first day of load in, Vince returned to the truck to inform me that Smitty, one of the crew members for Lion King that moves the show in and out of the cities, is a neighbor of ours back home in Ohio.  When I joined the group later that day, I learned that besides being neighbors our families had attended rivaling Catholic high schools. It really is a small world, like Smitty said it is amazing the can you travel 2000+ miles and end up meeting a neighbor.

Without a doubt the scariest moment for me of the whole week occurred Wednesday night when we were returning from the drop yard with our trailer for the next day. We were on Larkin one street over from Hyde where always parked for the night.  As we were approaching the light to make our right turn, out of know were in the corner of my eye I saw a skinny, shirtless, bearded man (picture a tall skinny Charles Manson) running full tilt at the side of the truck.  I yelled out to Vince who immediately acknowledged that he saw him.  We braced for the sound of him hitting the sleeper area or trailer, but fortunately the sound never came.  The adrenaline rush I experienced was incredible; I thought for sure this guy was going to be seriously injured from that stunt.

It wasn’t until the next morning when we saw the guy in the square that we figured out he must of stop short of the trailer and did a kung fu move.  He was up and down the square the rest of the day challenging people and doing his moves, all the way up until he got arrested around 4:00 pm. But never fear he was back out by dark because Vince heard him all night.

The load in took four days. As the following pictures show, some of the biggest pieces are the elephant grave yard.  Those pieces are so heavy they can’t be pushed of the truck on a ramp. So they are removed from the trailer onto a roll back truck then rolled down off the roll back onto the street then into the theatre.