Here's the story: Back in February, a visitor was flying to San Francisco to recreate a childhood photo with their sister — a gift for both of their parents' birthdays. Sweet idea, one small problem: nobody in the family had any clue where the original photo was taken beyond "somewhere in San Francisco." That's roughly 47 square miles of possibilities.

With the clock ticking on a 75-minute flight from somewhere on the West Coast, this person did what any reasonable millennial would do — threw the question out to the San Francisco internet community and hoped for the best.

What happened next is the kind of thing that restores a sliver of faith in humanity. Before the plane even touched down at OAK, the community had generated 86 comments and narrowed the mystery location down to one of two spots. By the time they hopped on BART into the city, the consensus was clear: the east entrance staircase at Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights.

They nailed the recreation. Fast forward to May, and both parents received the side-by-side photos — childhood original and adult recreation — reportedly "amidst many tears."

Look, San Francisco catches a lot of flak, and often deservedly so. But this city's people — the ones who actually live here, walk these streets, and apparently have an encyclopedic knowledge of random staircases — are something special. No government program facilitated this. No task force was convened. No $2 million consulting contract was awarded to identify a set of stairs. Just regular people with local knowledge helping a stranger do something beautiful for their family.

This is community working exactly the way it should — voluntarily, efficiently, and without a single line item in anybody's budget.

Sometimes the best things about San Francisco have nothing to do with City Hall. Most times, actually.