Dropbox Dudes Tried to Kick Children Off a Soccer Field
Tech bros will stop at nothing to get what they perceive to be theirs. In the latest example of unchecked hubris, we witness as a squad of adults in Dropbox jerseys argue with and cuss at children over a San Francisco soccer field.
The argument started over a Mission District field, which Mission Local says has been popular with "mainly Spanish-speaking soccer players" for decades. The location has traditionally been used for pick-up games. But Dropbox-uniformed players that rented the field through a controversial new city process insisted it was their turn to play.
Of course, the kids already using the field weren't psyched about a group of presumably well-paid men taking the space away from them. When a 20-year-old intervened on behalf of the kids, the adults became petulant. As transcribed by Uptown Almanac:
Guy Already Playing on Field: You don't understand— this field has never been booked. How long have you been in the neighborhood?
Bro: Over a year!
GAPOF: Oh, over a year?
Off Camera Guy in Dropbox Tee-Shirt: Who gives a shit? Who cares about the neighborhood?
You couldn't cast a more symbolic display of tech-fueled gentrification in San Francisco.
Update: One Dropbox employee has apologized for his role in the incident.
Deeply sorry about the Mission Playground incident. I do care about my community.
— Jean-Denis Greze (@jgreze) October 12, 2014
What I said was insensitive and embarrassing to both Dropbox and me. In case it helps, we worked it out that day so everyone got to play.
— Jean-Denis Greze (@jgreze) October 12, 2014
The company also issued a statement over the weekend, saying:
We love San Francisco and are grateful to call it home. That's why we were disappointed to learn that a couple of our employees weren't respectful to this community. The employees involved are embarrassed and have apologized. We're sorry, and we promise to do better.
Sources tell Valleywag that Dropbox was playing Airbnb in a corporate league. At least one Airbnb employee has been identified in the video. Conor Welch, who works as a "Community Support Lead" for Airbnb, is the man seen with the permit.
This post has been updated to reflect that the SF Pickup Soccer app was not used to rent the field at Mission Playground. To contact the author of this post, please email kevin@valleywag.com.
Disclosure: the author of this post is the former editor and current publisher of Uptown Almanac, which originally broke the story.