Freaking Out in San Francisco

‘California is really a hotch–potch, a pot–pourri. It’s very rootless. Things happen very fast here,’ says the cab driver.

‘San Francisco is a town of polarities and excesses. It’s always had a history of having weird groups: beatniks, hippies, gays, an endless stream.

‘It’s not quite so gay as it was. At one time it was roaring. Now everything is much more subdued. Unfortunately it took AIDS to do it.

‘There’s a whole subculture of hippies still here, though. They’re a little mature now, but they’re here …’