Milkmobile

In October, I wrote about how Muni dedicated one of its historic streetcars on the F-Market/Wharves line to slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Though best known for his tireless fight for equal rights in the LGBT community, he was also Muni’s best friend in Silly Hall, as he called it, advocating for better transit in San Francisco. He was the first SF supervisor to regularly use his FastPass and the first SF supervisor to take Muni to work every day from his home in the Castro.

I learned these things after stepping into a packed-to-the-gills, green-and-white F-car yesterday afternoon, not realizing it was the Harvey Milk car I wrote about a couple months prior. I took these blurry photos with my phone before it crapped out on me, and spent a lot of time staring at the old photos and reading the info in this mobile tribute. This was the same car featured in Milk, the critically acclaimed Gus Van Sant movie about Milk and his time in San Francisco politics.

Many of the tourists on the car were cranky and itchy to get to their destinations further north, not really in a mood for some local history sitting next to the less poignant, flashy ads for the Buena Vista and Scoma’s restaurant. But if my not-so-surreptitious picture-taking encouraged at least one person to check out the info placards, it was a ride well-spent.

It seems ridiculous to drive from the Castro to City Hall to go to work. I know some of you assorted officials do it, but you’re probably tired of the Muni commute, just like the rest of us. Maybe we (including the mayor himself) can take a lesson from Mayor Newsom’s SUV incident, and take transit if only to protect our side mirrors?

Or maybe, just in time for New Year’s resolution season, we can resolve to take Muni to work and to play. What would Harvey do?