from Top of the Mark

This is a view of the city from the Top of the Mark bar and lounge in SF. We walked in and looked completely out of place. It was an impromptu stop for drinks and a great view, but we did not fit into that atmosphere. If we'd cared enough to look around, we would have felt the eyes of the place say this isn't just a bar where you can enjoy the view of San Francisco. It isn't just a place to hang out with a posh friend or two, sharing stories. It's not a place to loosen up with a glass of fragrant wine. Outside these walls, the view is spectacular -- so much architectural beauty encompassing the fast paces of daily living. Outside there are people revving up their cars around the winding caterpiller streets, drinking coffee by sidewalk cafes, droning away in high steepled houses, but making differences in their lives. Inside this place, though, is the space of marginalization, of discomfort, of not fitting in. Is this view -- and everything it represents -- enough for us to stand against that kind of marking?