In true Muni style, Muni Diaries Live arrives two years late

We will absolutely squeeze as much mileage out of that joke as we can, sorry not sorry.

Almost exactly two years after canceling our 2020 show and thinking we might be up and running by the summer (LOL), we finally brought Muni Diaries Live back to the Rickshaw Stop last week. We celebrated our 14th (!) birthday with another sold-out crowd—no small feat after isolating ourselves for two years—and man, it felt great to hear stories in real life.

BART Board Director Janice Li and bigtime transit fan kicked off the evening by sharing a tale of “what would you do” on Muni. When she saw a fight break out on the bus, she took matters into her own hands. But what she saw after making a public information request for the bus footage was something else entirely.

Safe streets advocate Hayden Miller joined our stage for the first time. He might be in high school, but that didn’t stop him from giving a n00b Muni operator some driving directions which landed all involved in an unexpected situation (and location).

The world’s number one Boat Tram fan Katie Haverkamp (mom of the Muni-riding cat named LeBron James) returned to the Muni Diaries Live stage to explain why she just can’t keep away from San Francisco. Spoiler alert: this lady has got zero commitment phobia when it comes to her love for the city.

San Francisco native and San Francisco Standard journalist Meaghan Mitchell shared a story of forgiveness after a life-changing experience at a 22-Fillmore stop. Stories on Muni Diaries are really about what it’s like to live here, and these stories can range from sweet and quirky, weird and funny, to the powerful personal tale Meaghan shared that evening.

And we can’t do our comeback show without Muni Diaries Live alum Mc Allen, who the San Francisco Chronicle calls Muni’s most famous operator! If you haven’t kept up with this prolific poet, who you might remember as our former Muni Haiku champion, a lot has happened in the last two years. Not only has he become a Muni operator, his tweets about the Muni scene in a certain blockbuster movie almost broke the internet. This was a story that we want every San Franciscan to hear.

We’ve been patiently waiting to bring back the Muni Haiku Battle, and a two-year hiatus means we’ve had plenty of time to gather found objects (SANITIZED!) from the bus to adorn our DIY trophy. We could do a gift card for the winner or splurge on an actual trophy, but no—this is Muni Diaries family tradition.

For this long-awaited battle, reigning champion Wonder Dave returned to defend his crown against comedian Becca Henry. Becca says that all her haiku are true stories that happened on the bus. We really need to hear these stories beyond the 5-7-5 format she brought to the battle.

It was a close call, but our audience judges crowned the winner, and Wonder Dave again takes home the title!

In addition to our wonderful audience, our friends at Transit Supply (check out their super adorable merch), and San Francisco Transit Riders joined the party. The evening is always about celebrating the city and the many ways we can all contribute to where we live, and both brought that spirit in droves.

Stories from that evening are making their way to the Muni Diaries Podcast, so be sure to subscribe if you missed us in person. Our next popup event will be on April 30 at Green Apple Books to celebrate independent bookstore day! It’ll be our first Muni Pun-Off. You won’t want to miss it.

As always, Muni Diaries is made of your stories! We are always looking for stories that happened on or off the bus. Submit your own page of the diary or nominate a storyteller by emailing us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

All photos by Amanda Roosa.