Sailing in the Bay

I really wish I were a good photographer. Unfortunately, I'm lucky enough to have a nice camera but not skilled enough to use it properly. My strategy is to make up for it in volume. I shoot tons and tons of pictures and then pick the ones I like, crop them to make them interesting, and enjoy them. I think I have a pretty good eye for composition--especially in "post production" mode.

This day, my wife and I took a bay cruise in San Francisco. It was the closest I got to getting into a fight in ten years--We were signing up for the cruise and Fran was handing the girl a coupon for $5 off or so, and she ran my card through the machine before discounting the price--it took a matter of seconds. She sheepishly looked at me and told me that she couldn't offer the discount because she had already run my card through. I nicely and politely asked to speak to the manager, who flatly told me that they would not honor the coupon. I told them to cancel it, but they have signs everywhere saying that the tickets were non-refundable. I hadn't signed the receipt yet, so I told them I would just call my bank and cancel the transaction, but I realized that this would be a huge hassle.

I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, heart pumping and, through my set jaw, hissed in a rage, "I'm about to F*** somebody up!" Realizing that I was on vacation and looking across the bay and seeing Alcatraz and not wanting to get sent there for smacking around a day laborer, or worse, getting smacked around by a day laborer, I turned around and walked off, leaving the tickets. My wife, who really wanted to go on the cruise, and who has the ability to separate the issue of pride from being bamboozled out of a whole $5, signed the receipt, scooped up the tickets, and followed me down the boardwalk.

I hadn't been that pissed off in a long time, so maybe it was good for me--maybe it cleaned out my arteries or something, like crimping off a hose so the water pressure can reach the other side of the garden. It didn't feel good at the time--I was embarrassed about losing my temper, and also embarrassed about losing the argument.

We turned a corner on the boardwalk full of tourists, and three topless women were standing on benches, holding signs saying something to the effect of "Boobs not Bombs". It was hard to argue with that well-thought-out logic, and hard to remain mad while laughing.

We took the bay cruise, and I snapped this picture, among about a hundred others (including the great shot of the Golden Gate Bridge enveloped in fog down below). I thought for a little a while about throwing my radio headset overboard to stick them for the $5 they cheated from me. I'm glad we went on the cruise, though. It was a highlight of our trip.