STANDING PROUDLY AT THE TOP OF ALAMO SQUARE is the most magnificent drinking fountain in San Francisco. This of course begs the question, “What exactly makes a ‘good’ fountain ’great’?” Let’s discuss.

1. LOCATION This bronze oasis allows the user to, at one side, reflect on the hustle and bustle of city living while peering over the iconic Painted Ladies. Then, with an ever-so-slight turn of the shoulders, the lucky patron can look beyond Golden Gate Park and off into the distant Pacific.

2.  UNIVERSAL ACCESS This device provides equal points of entry across the adult-child-canine spectrum. In fact, it seems that some civic-minded individual even took it upon him or herself to build an aftermarket add-on in order to provide even more hydration opportunities to the local pooches. Talk about a “can-do” attitude!

3. ABILITY TO TRIGGER A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE This isn’t the fountain toward which you make the hungover death-march on a Monday morning. Nor is it the disease-ridden germ vehicle you are sometimes forced to drink from out of necessity. Rather, drinking from this urban gem evokes kind memories of sharing beers in the sun or quietly reading a magazine. Perhaps it was this very fountain that wet your whistle when you finally mustered up the gumption to ask that girl from the coffee shop out on a date. Who knows? The bottom line is simple: This fountain serves to promote leisure and enjoyment, not merely provide the bare-minimum nourishment needed for survival as we trudge through a nihilistic workaday existence.

On a parting note, I’d like to add that at one time this fountain was vandalized.Some sociopath, under the cloak of night, ripped the dog dish component from this local treasure. However, rather than curse the darkness, someone decided to light a candle. Within a few days, the dish was replaced by a metal one from someone’s home and served as a proxy until the device was properly repaired.

Now if that doesn’t give credence to the quality of this drinking fountain, I don’t know what does.