A new Applebee’s restaurant opened in San Francisco last summer. I just discovered it. San Francisco hates national chains so Applebee’s had to be very quiet to open here. It opened along with several other successful national chains, almost secretly. It is on the third floor of a nice large building at Fisherman's Wharf with a great view of the entire Bay.
I found the food to be excellent. Definitely in the top range of American food along with the Cheese Factory. This is a category that is different from gourmet food, entirely.
I had a wonderful time at Applebee's because the patrons are real people. I distinguish real people from San Franciscans who are ideological rabbits. San Franciscans all have the same daily conversations and vote for the same socialist-20th century-loser-agenda. San Franciscans are anti-commerce. Real people aren't.
So how can these wonderful American real people be living in the same city?
Because they comprise the silent majority. The majority of Americans, the real Americans, do not vote and most of them do not even register to vote. Half of all Americans are not registered to vote and more than half don't vote at all.
These are the real people I live with. I have studied non-voters and found them to be disinterested in the political process. They focus on their lives, their families, their friends and their daily activities. These real Americans see no connection to the political world that swarms around them in the major media. To partially understand how these real people see the world look at local television. It is about police, fire, weather issues and unusual personal problems that make good drama. Local TV news is not about the political world that is discussed by the population that votes.
I love spending time around real Americans. They are pleasant, they are lighthearted, they are optimistic and most of all they are a diverse population. In San Francisco, they are Asians, Latinos, blacks and everything else.