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Comment by yupper32 | Hacker News Reader

And in most cities I haven't had to bribe a cop, like the one time I went to Mexico.

And in most cities I haven't heard the result of an acid attack outside of my hotel lobby, like one of the times I've visited London.

I'd take feces over those examples any day. And yet, I'm not going to shit on those places, because I was a tourist. I get that some places, especially some tourist and downtown areas, are more dangerous than others. And I get that my tourist experience doesn't necessarily reflect the day-to-day of normal residents.

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Comparing acid attacks in London to San Francisco's problems is like comparing plane crashes to car crashes. The former is worse per occurrence and gets more attention, but the latter is much, much more common and so worse overall.

You've missed my point entirely.

My point is that just because I heard an acid attack outside my hotel in London, it does not make me qualified to criticize London or those who choose to live there.

Just as someone who visited SF a few times and saw some feces (etc) is not qualified to criticize SF or those who choose to live here.

Right, but if you heard an acid attack outside of your hotel three visits in a row, it’d be a different story.

I’ve spent six years in the Bay (SF and Berkeley), and the unfortunate truth is that the feces, homelessness, and public drug use have become prominent features of today’s SF.

Yes but then you ask people you know whether xyz thing is common, and it turns out the tent cities are permanent, and in fact everyone runs into people who need psychological help each day.

Nobody will tell you that London has an acid attack problem. I've lived here for years and heard about it maybe once on the news. Everyone will tell you SF has an issue with homelessness/mental health, and they've seen it with their own eyes.

> My point is that just because I heard an acid attack outside my hotel in London, it does not make me qualified to criticize London or those who choose to live there.

Yes it does. People are allowed to have opinions and express them. I've never been to SF, but I can just tell from what I've seen on sites like this that I would hate it. You can feel otherwise and that's fine, but other people will judge SF for their inaction on issues like ubiquitous homelessness.

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