Hero: During the Northern California fires last fall, doctors, nurses and staff continued treating fire victims even as their own homes burned. Payton Walton of Mill Valley worked as a nurse at two Santa Rosa hospitals during the firestorm. Back in Marin, she had a bit of culture shock. Life continued as usual for us, while folks up north lost everything. That’s when she took to the website Nextdoor to ask for volunteer families to support families devastated by the fires. The response was so overwhelming that Payton started an organization called Family Matching, which has now paired 250 families in need with nearly 9,000 donors. Our local hero has been featured on Today, The Doctors and in Real Simple magazine. Payton, we’re in awe.
Zero: Nancy had barely fed her card into the ATM at the Bank of Marin in Sausalito when a man wearing sunglasses walked up to her and asked if it was working. “Has there been a problem?” she asked. He indicated that he didn’t know and just wanted to use it. “I’ll be done in a minute,” Nancy said. He moved two feet behind her and craned his neck to look over her shoulder. She asked if he would mind moving back. “Yes. I would. This is the fucking line, lady,” he yelled, while he motioned to a crack in the sidewalk. “I’ll finish after you step away,” Nancy replied. “Bitch,” he said. Finally, he left. Temper, temper. Stand back next time and be a gentleman.
