Let that sink in. Twenty minutes. Near a courthouse.

The resident later posted about the experience, genuinely unsure whether they should have called anyone. And honestly? The fact that San Franciscans now question whether a man openly brandishing a knife on a public sidewalk warrants a phone call tells you everything about the state of public safety expectations in this city.

As one local put it bluntly: "People on Reddit will type five paragraphs instead of do obvious things. Are we all in a scary movie now?" Another resident was more direct: "Calling 911 would've been more than appropriate here."

They're both right. But let's also be honest about why people hesitate. Years of mixed messaging — defund this, redirect that, don't criminalize mental illness — have left ordinary residents confused about what they're even supposed to do when they feel unsafe. Call 911? Will anyone come? Call a crisis line? For a man with a knife? The bureaucratic layering of response systems has created a fog where common sense used to live.

This isn't about demonizing someone who is clearly suffering from mental illness. It's about the basic compact between a city and its residents: you pay your taxes, you follow the rules, and in return, you can walk your dog at midday without doing a threat assessment at every intersection.

San Francisco spends roughly $1.3 billion annually on homelessness-related services. The city's budget for the Department of Public Health tops $3 billion. And yet a taxpaying resident near SoMa still has to crowdsource safety advice on the internet after encountering an armed, erratic individual steps from a county courthouse.

The answer, for the record, is yes — call 911. Every single time. But the bigger question is why this city has made its residents feel foolish for expecting the basics.