With many offices and retail businesses closed in San Francisco after the terrorist attacks in New York yesterday, my partner and I learned that our offices would also be closed for the day and resumed watching the coverage on television for several hours. While no new reports were being announced, we decided to go out for a walk in our neighborhood and reflect on what we had been watching. One block from our home is our neighborhood commercial area, Chestnut Street; we live in the Marina District, for those familiar with The City.

Not expecting too many people, we made a right on the corner where the retail shops, restaurants, banks and other businesses were located to find 2 young ladies tugging at the door of the Williams-Sonoma store, visibly and verbally upset that the store had closed early, as so many others had on the street. I was taken back by their attitude, that today, a day off, would become a shopping opportunity for them. I’m not suggesting that everyone was to stay home with the drapes drawn, however, a shopping excursion was the last thing that I would have ever considered doing on a day such as yesterday.

A block down, the Pottery Barn store has just closed and a small group had gathered, my immediate reaction was that a small riot would ensue, as again, people were commenting that they could not believe that the shops had closed, as they pushed and pulled on the doors.

While most retail shops has closed, most restaurants were open, patrons spilling onto the sidewalk seating areas, laughing and having a good time, as if it were the weekend, which is normally the scene for this part of town. Café after café, the scene was repeated, people sunning themselves, having a good time as if nothing has happened and as if it were a national holiday. Again, I wasn’t expecting everyone to be in a somber mood, I was really surprised by the lack of emotion and the festive atmosphere, it made me a little upset.

While not trying to be dramatic about this, as people have different ways of dealing with tragedies, I felt ashamed for most of the people I saw, taking advantage of a day off to go shopping or have brunch with friends.