democracy in action...

"Now this is democracy in action," said my friend Ben (and fellow Michigander). We were being herded into room #416 at San Francisco's City Hall, along with about 80 other people wearing matching t-shirts. What were we doing? What San Francisco does best! Grassroots lobbying. Let me explain:

I am an ultimate player. Ultimate, in this sense, is a noun not an adjective. Better known as ultimate frisbee or sometimes frisbee football, ultimate has been my exercise outlet for the last seven years, but especially in the last three here in SF. One of the things that makes ultimate special is the "Spirit of the Game," which in short says, "Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players, adherence to the agreed-upon rules of the game, or the basic joy of play." This means helping another player up after knocking them down (accidentally), admitting to a rules violation, and having fun. Unlike any other sport I've seen, there is true camaraderie in ultimate, which is what brought me to City Hall this afternoon.

Not only do ultimate players have a bond with each other, but also with other players of disc sports, like disc golf (AKA Frisbee golf). So when the call went out from the SF Disc Golf Club to attend a meeting of the Recreation and Parks Commission, who was debating whether or not to extend the temporary permit for the disc golf course in Golden Gate Park, the ultimate community showed up in force to support the golfers.

The committee voted to extend the permit by 60 days to allow for further investigation into the impact on the park by the course, but just having 80 disc golfers and other supporters overflowing the hearing room--in the middle of a weekday--was quite a sight and surely made an impact on the commissioners.

And through it all, hippies and coporate folks alike being herded into that small room, this was truly a case of democracy in action.