Waiting for the MOMA

I was in second grade or third grade when the MOMA came to town. That is, the grand opening of the new museum in San Francisco. My teacher, Ms. Mok, passed flyers to her students to let us know about the grand opening. She suggested we all go as it was free and there would be activities as well.

It was downtown and my family always bought our groceries in Chinatown on the weekends. So it wasn't too much trouble to walk downtown to check it out. We (my sister, father and I) probably got there sometime after noon. Boy was the line long! It wrapped around the entire block! And then some!

I don't remember much about that day, or that afternoon even. I remember there was a tent set up outside with refreshments and games and little art activities for kids. There was this set up where you could decorate a brick and then plop it on top of the other bricks when you were done. It was probably some kind of temporary art installation. And there was music and people milling about. We were still in line technically so as soon as I was done in the tent we continued onward. To where? I don't remember. But onward we went.

We were probably in line for about two hours before calling it quits and heading back to join my mom who was still grocery shopping.

Why do I tell this story?

To this day I have not step foot in the MOMA. Actually, I've not yet experienced most of the museums in San Francisco's SOMA (south of Market area) or downtown area.

Maybe I should go sometime and finish what I started.