jeff – Page 237 – Muni Diaries

Muni Operator Dares Car Driver

October 27, 2011 jeff Leave a comment

Christopher D. Lewis sent in a tale of drive-or-dare.

I’m a regular rider of the L-Terrible. Of late I’ve become increasingly irritated by auto drivers who decide that when a Muni train stops to let passengers off and on, that they can accelerate past the train and get ahead of it, despite the fact that, of course that we all know the passengers have right of way on the street when boarding/disembarking the train. It’s gotten so bad that nowadays I refuse to get off the train by the door in the very back of the train.

A few nights ago I was on the L with one of my favourite train operators (I recognise his voice: once at Taraval and 22nd where the L stops outside the KFC/Taco Bell he reminded us that this was “The KFC stop, and it’s finger licking good”!). This operator decided to reprimand one rogue driver for whizzing past the train and almost knocking over an elderly passenger as she got off the train.

He opened all the doors then screamed over the loudspeaker system: “You jackass! You trying to kill my passengers? Why don’t you come on here and try that with me!” The car driver sped off but it put a smile on my face and on my fellow Muni passengers. I like a Muni operator who will stand up for his passengers and hopefully avoid us getting killed by some ignorant driver trying to get home in a hurry.

We like a Muni driver who looks out for us too! Got your own colorful Muni tale? We’re all about it.

Category: WTF: Weirdness on Muni

New Level Seat Etiquette on Muni

October 26, 2011 jeff Leave a comment

seat_etiquette
Photo by Lynn Friedman

Last Saturday, as you’ll recall, it was a gorgeous day, so I thought I’d head down to the Ferry Building/Embarcadero and take a walk by the water. I had a few Muni options to get there and decided I’d take the F. I sat in a seat facing inward, back to the window.

Across from me, there were three seats together. In the middle seat, sandwiched between two empties, was a very tall and fit-looking older (late 60s? 70s?) man wearing a retired U.S. Marine Corps baseball cap festooned with pins and a Marine Corps jacket. He had headphones in, and his legs were spread out into the seat space on either side.

Enter wholesome young couple with toddler daughter in a stroller. There was some struggling to move the stroller out of the aisle and get everyone situated. Dad leaned over and asked Mr. Marine if he wouldn’t mind moving so he and his wife could sit together. Mr. Marine, who had not so much as glanced in their direction, kept his steely gaze fixed forward, didn’t turn his head or anything, simply raised his [large] hand and gave Dad the finger. It was awesome. Then Dad muttered something about, “Well, THAT wasn’t very nice.”

I won’t get into the father-daughter interaction that ensued for the rest of the ride, but it was insipid and annoying enough that I wanted to flip him the bird too.

Oh who said San Francisco is not a children-friendly city? What else happened on your Muni ride today? Our inbox is thirsty!

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni

Muni News: Problem shelter, Fleet Week gas cost, litter-punch

October 14, 2011 jeff Leave a comment

A heap of Muni news this week:

Problem Muni bus shelter in San Francisco’s Tenderloin could be removed (SF Examiner)
BART Cut Cell Service on Spur of the Moment, Emails Show (The Bay Citizen)
Dennis Herrera may lose San Francisco Central Subway job (SF Examiner)
San Francisco fleet’s gas costs (including for Muni) rise as usage drops (SF Examiner)
Public nudity? Who actually rides Muni? Mayor’s debate reveals all (City Insider)
28L-19th Avenue bus stop changes effective Oct. 17 (The Daily Dose)
Muni passenger punches woman for littering on bus (SF Examiner)

Category: News

Missing Doll on Muni! Missing Doll on Muni!

October 12, 2011 jeff 2 comments

I think this is a doll, anyway. Here’s @amymiller‘s take: “Excuse me sir, you forgot you SCARIEST SHIT EVER on this Muni.”

Category: diaries

Is Muni better upside-down?

October 12, 2011 jeff Leave a comment

Maybe someone was trying to find out. @PatrickLawlerDP sends the image, and says, “Way to go! The person in charge of putting stickers on things should be ashamed!” Is that a job title? Person in Charge of Putting Stickers on Things? Should be, right?

Category: diaries, Photos

London Bus Diary: On the Lam

October 11, 2011 jeff Leave a comment

Photo by Curtis Cronn

This is cool. Eliane says she went to the Muni Diaries Live Reunion/Open Mic last week and had a blast. She had such a good time, in fact, that she was inspired to pen her very own diary from public transit in her hometown — London, England. Take it away, Eliane:

I was taking the 73 bus home to Stoke Newington one sunny evening. This was in the days when the 73 was a Routemaster – the old style double decker bus with an open back you could jump on and off. It was chugging slowly through Islington and we’d just turned into Upper Street by Angel. It gets busy just there with three lanes of traffic going each way and lots of lights. And it was rush hour so there were lots of cars and buses and vans and so on. Anyway, there we were. A full top deck of commuters ignoring each other, when someone jumped on the bus while it drove along and ran straight upstairs. He was young and looking very nervous, running up and down the aisle, ducking low, looking out of both sides, watching to see if he was being followed. Which he was. By a big security guard who also jumped on the bus and started to climb the stairs. Where could he go? He was trapped. Also turns out he was nuts or on something. He ran for the back of the bus (where the stairs came up) and instead of running down, opened the emergency exit window and climbed out of the bus onto the roof.

Read the rest of Eliane’s London bus diary “And if a double-decker bus …”