“What brought you to San Francisco?”

“I moved here with my girlfriend about a year ago. I work at Bi-Rite right up the street.”

“What do you think of the city?”

“I love it. It’s the first time I’ve lived in a super urban place. It’s so culturally rich. One of the things that really struck me about this place is that there’s a sense here that anything is possible. Despite all the political and social upset that always happening, you’re free to do what you want. There’s a freedom to be who you are, or who you want to be. The resources and the people exist to create what you want to create. We have the freedom to participate in the world we want to live in.

We have the freedom to explore too. We’re on the bleeding edge of the continent, and we’re also on the bleeding edge of technology, and we have apps for everything. As a social phenomenon they change the way we behave and organize things. You can have your calculator, email, camera, maps, etc. all in one device. You can send someone a text message, you don’t have to send things by horse. You can plan a trip while you’re on it instead of having to plan it beforehand. 

I think there’s sort of a backlash against the speed that that gives us. People are getting back to physical things, and craft, and what we can do with our hands rather than with bits of code. That’s why Bi-Rite is so popular. One of the things I love about Bi-Rite is that it’s very service oriented. One of the inevitable consequences of technology is that it dehumanizes us a little bit by latching us to this machine. Therefor the things that reaffirm our humanity become more important. Being able to look someone in the eyes and say ‘hello, I’m here.’ That’s why our vision at Bi-Rite is ‘creating community through food’. Community if essential to keeping us grounded and not moving too fast. You see that on facebook witht heir new app Pages. It’s not about scrolling through an endless feed, it’s about picking out stories and spending some time with them with some sort of attention.

I’m very curious about how we can maintain some sense of humanity while we integrate technology. Return to the point where we can remember what is special about being human. What it feels like to have a soul. To not lose that sense of soulfulness.

The key is not to forget who we are while discovering what we can be.”