Today I was once again reminded why I love San Francisco. There are many things that I've noticed over the past two months, since I moved back from college, that have made me feel like The City isn't for me anymore but then events like this happen and I am reminded that I love San Francisco and there is no place like it in the world. So let me get to telling you my tale.
Today I was at a doctors appointment and I was really hungry and wanted to find a place to eat dinner so, as usual, I went to google in search for a wine/piano bar that I'd gone to before but could not remember the name to save my life. While googling I found a German restaurant that served Radler and Grüner Veltliner; these were two of my favorite drinks when I was living in Vienna. I decided to give the place a try and I was very happy to find the people there to be friendly and welcoming. One Radler and a a glass of wine later I was getting into a very deep conversation about life with the man sitting next to me. He was traveling from Virginia for work and had some wisdom to pass down to the "next generation"(me). The things he brought up, like making sure the save for retirement but also live while I'm young, made me question if these two things are possible at the same time and if I was making the right things a priority in my life. Two of my biggest fears are that I wont make traveling a priority and that I will get to the age of retirement and not be able to afford to live.
After revealing to him that my new(first) full-time job only pays minimum wage he told me that some things I will need to sacrifice today in order to live well in the future, but I don't want traveling to be that sacrifice. So maybe I wont save up for that Rebecca Minkoff purse I saw and Nordstroms and instead put half in my longterm savings and half in my travel fund. And maybe I wont rush to find a room for rent so I can move out of my mothers house but instead pretend I am paying rent and put the money in my savings like my Lyft driver suggested.
Meeting this bearded man from Virginia at a German bar in San Francisco made me think, something I am often afraid of doing. It made me think about what it is I think is important in my life and the things I want to be important in my life.
In the middle of our conversation he told me that twenty years from now I'd go back to that bar and remember what he told me, to save, to explore, and also what causes the hiccups (I just remembered he was an EMT). I'm sure that he is right and I hope that when that day comes I will have been saving my money and seeing the world. I hope to still hold on to these values and that I am able to pass them onto the next generation(and cover a check or two like he did for me).
