Nary a glove goes astray at Symphony opener

Pope Francis was in New York, the desperate migrants were dragging their babies to safety across Europe, the presidential candidates were sniping at each other. But on Thursday evening, we were at the opening night gala of the San Francisco Symphony, where arriving guests were lining up outside to have their pictures taken on the red carpet, and those who’d arrived already and had ascended to the Davies Symphony Hall lobby were watching real-time videos of the outside folks posing for the cameras. You could call it a black-tie-and-ballgown infinite regress.

Thanks to co-chairs Dagmar and Natasha Dolby, the gala was a moving demonstration of stereotype-shattering mother-in-law/daughter-in-law affection and cooperation. As to other stereotypes: Kudos to Kelsey Grammer for singing the Henry Higgins role in a selection of songs from “My Fair Lady,” but harrumphing with 2015 political correctness, I wish to address the song’s “eternal strife” of letting a woman in one’s life: “You want to talk of Keats or Milton, she only wants to talk of love/ You go to see a play or ballet, and spend it searching for her glove.” I saw only one woman (Nicole Curran, girlfriend of Warriors owner Joe Lacob) wearing gloves on this hot night, and she was not searching for them.

A selection of overheards: “We always have hope,” said John Newman about the Giants; “He’s the only Argentinian that I would like to meet that I’ve never met,” said Argentina-born Angie Thieriot about Pope Francis; “It would have been cheaper if she’d gone to Burning Man,” said a man having just learned that Norah Stone’s dress had been made by an artist who grew the roses, shot a picture of them, then used that image to make the frock’s fabric; “It doesn’t matter. I’m a twin and I’m used to it,” said Ellie Killebrew Brown, upon coming face to face with someone — not her twin — wearing the same dress as hers; “It’s a little bit of a science, and a little bit of art,” said Natasha Dolby on the intricacy of assigning people to dinner seating; and “How did Elvis keep his collar up?” said Belinda Berry, fussing with the stand-up site-specific arrangement of cloth that framed her face.

Although many of the homies at such events spend more time at dinner greeting pals than they do eating, the food, by McCall’s, was top-notch.

A few weeks ago, after the Opera opening gala, two San Francisco police officers asked what their biggest problem of the evening had been, said, “What to eat.” So leaving the Symphony afterparty, I posed the same question to two other officers. “No one’s offered me a doughnut yet,” said one.

Ladies and gents, we’ve got to feed these starving public servants.

Especially because: At a recent auction for North Beach Citizens, Sue Conley and Peg Smith of Cowgirl Creamery, Gilbert Pilgram of Zuni, food writer Peggy Knickerbocker and Hayes Street Grill proprietor Patty Unterman chipped in and bought the experience of getting a tour of the bay aboard a San Francisco police boat, with Capt. David Lazar of Central Station.

After their ride, a police van picked them up and took them to Original Joe’s for a huge lunch. Lazar asked for the check and pulled out his wallet. Unterman had thought the meal would be donated by Original Joe’s, but when Lazar said that was his personal contribution to North Beach Citizens, she argued with him over the check. He prevailed and paid, and later, in gratitude, she sent him a gift certificate to her restaurant. But in response to that, he said that as a police officer, he couldn’t accept the gift. “I told him that he should waste no time in running for political office,” said Unterman.

In Sacramento, notes C.A., checks presented to customers of one restaurant include a line for the server’s tip, and another for a kitchen workers’ tip. Who doesn’t want to help the people in the kitchen? But, says the spy, “I wish places would just quietly give employees what they’re due and raise the prices if necessary, not do another add-on to the bill.”

Drought tip for the day: Use the runoff from squeegeeing your shower tiles to bathe your Chihuahua.