When protestors blocked a private Google shuttle bus in downtown San Francisco—corporate use of public stops and streets being a hot-button issue in the city, tied as it is to rapid gentrification—Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez was there to capture the anger of one Google employee, doomed to find a taxi. I've transcribed the filmed confrontation below; it's so perfectly appalling that some locals are certain it's fake.
UPDATE: Rodriguez writes that the "Google employee" was in fact a union organizer, staging a confrontation.
Tech worker:If you guys would just move out of the way…
Protestor: How long have you lived in the city?
Tech worker: Look, I've been here for six months, OK. Look, I live around the corner. I don't owe you anything.
Protestor: How much is your rent?
Tech worker: Look, I can pay my rent. Can you pay your rent? Can you pay your rent?
Proteststor: I can't pay my rent.
Tech worker: Well, you know what, what don't you go to a city where you can afford it? You know, this is a city for the right people who can afford it. If you can't afford it, it's time for you to leave.
Protestor: What's your—
Tech worker: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's time for you to leave. Look, if you can't pay your rent, I'm sorry. Get a better job.
Protestor: Where are you from?
Tech worker: Look, I don't need to tell you that. Like, I need you to move right now. This is ridiculous. What kind of fucking city it is? What kind of, what, kind of city is this?
Protestor: (muffled) — a city of 7 million people.
Tech worker: Ugh.
Reporter: Can you just say why you're living here? What do you do?
Tech worker: I'm sorry, I don't want to talk about this. This is ridiculous. … I gotta get to work.
Reporter: How are you gonna get to work?
[San Francisco Bay Guardian via Valleywag]
