Category: Aww: Cute on Muni

Cookies, kudos for great drivers of the 8-Bayshore

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Muni rider Azucena wants to send a shout out to what she calls “two great and respectful Muni drivers” on the 8. We are always down for some driver thanks. The submission has been edited lightly for clarity.

One day picking up my daughter from school, I saw she had a small bag of fruits and cookies she was trying to give them away. I told her we should always appreciate bus drivers who take you where you have to go. So she gave the bag to one of the drivers, who appreciated the gesture and thanked her. The next day, she did the same for a second driver. She felt so happy to be able to give something rather than have it go to waste.

Ever since then, my daughter has known how to share her appreciation for people who take her where she has to go. She is only about four years old.

Walter is one of the drivers, who we see when we catch the bus at Silver and San Bruno going inbound. William, the second driver, we catch sometimes at Bayshore and Leland or Munich and Geneva. I will always say that the Lord is with them wherever they go.

Though Muni is having a tough time in recent years, thanks to these drivers for their effort at providing great service. We’ve certainly heard of many wonderful drivers like this friendly operator who doled out funny life advice, someone who surprised a rider with fresh cherries, and another who played some Jedi mind tricks on a commuter on a day when some humor was needed.

If you have a story about your favorite driver, we want to know! Submit your own diary at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Photo by Robert J. Pierce on Flickr

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A most Muni Black Friday sale: Show your SF pride!

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Nothing boosts your SF cred (or at least sparks conversation with a n00b) like an ode to the dearly departed Muni Fast Pass. Fellow San Franciscans, no matter the cut of your jib, head on over to our Black Friday sale in the Muni Diaries Etsy shop, where everything is 20% off!

You’ll find tote bags, tees, baby onesies, and Muni Diaries 10th anniversary posters designed by local graphic designer Craig Fowler.

Aren’t the posters sweet?

Thanks, as always, for supporting our project. Here’s what we’re most thankful for this year at Muni Diaries HQ.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni, News

The San Francisco we’re thankful for

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This year we celebrated 10 years of telling your Muni tales, and one whole year of sharing more San Francisco stories that happen off the bus. Your stories have a way of reminding everyone why San Francisco is still alright after all.

Because of you, our listeners, readers, and supporters, we hosted two of our local bookstore heroes in studio: Alan Beatts of Borderlands Books and Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books (look out for his episode in the coming weeks!) And we got Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight in front of a live audience to preview their epic, around-the-world-in-one-day-style trip on Muni.

Because more than 4,000 of you submitted stories to us every day for the last 10 years, we were able to celebrate our 10th birthday exactly how we wanted: with a packed room filled with friendly faces—shouts out to our artist and photographer friends who, until then, we had never met in real life but came bearing birthday presents of Muni art and photos. We even learned from the door staff at Elbo Room that some of you insisted on paying for your ticket even as someone donated their extra. These kindnesses are not lost on us even in the busy shuffle of show night.

This year, we’re so, so thankful for those of you that took out your wallets and supported us on Patreon: we know it’s expensive to live here, and your willingness to help us keep the lights on (and replace those microphone cables that the cats chewed up) is appreciated.

We were able to have one more evening at the Elbo Room, where Nuala Sawyer shared a story of one small moment that made a big difference—encapsulating why we do what we do.

And let’s not kid ourselves: because of you, all of our Muni rides are a little better, or at least a little funnier. Without this comMUNIty, we wouldn’t know that the trending hashtag for the N is #NJudas, and the correct way to haul your new cat tree is on an LRV, with a kitten on a leash eating out of a little bowl perched on said cat tree (true story).

So, from the Muni Diaries headquarters, thank you for sharing, riding, listening, reading, and contributing in your own way to life in the best city in the world.

Photo by @gurpreetz

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Quick Muni-themed Halloween costume ideas

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muni stroller kwokysan

There’s no limit for transit-obsessed San Franciscans dressing up for Halloween (or just dressing up period). Here at Muni Diaries headquarters, we are in possession of both a Clipper Card and Fast Pass costume, but we’ve seen some pretty fantastic Muni-themed outfits through the years. If you’re still looking for inspiration for Wednesday’s trick-or-treat festivities, here are some ideas:

@kwokysan on Twitter sent over this adorable Muni stroller: He says that Muni is his son’s favorite thing on their walks (Photo by @Chelseavmk.)

muni stroller by chelseavmk

Wonder if this guy tried to scan his Clipper card costume on Muni?


Photo by Octoferret

Shoutout to the paper Fast Pass too:

As much as I might detest couples costumes, we have to make an exception for this Dirty Thirty couple.

wayne
Photo by Wayne Grout

Whatever you do, may we suggest making a grand entrance on Muni this way? Oh by the way, it looks like the SFMTA is actually having a Halloween costume contest this year, featuring a pumpkin carved like a Muni bus. Winners get an “#SFMuni treat bag.”

Wanna share your love-hate relationship with Muni with 200 fellow riders? Muni Diaries Live is back on this Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Elbo Room. Help us give the Elbo Room a proper send-off! Tickets going fast.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni Tags:

Mom of the year makes Muni birthday cake dreams come true

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This is gonna make you want to be a kid all over again: train-obsessed kid (and pro Muni rider) Calvin just celebrated his birthday with possibly the most best cake ever. Mom Sonia presented him with this adorable mini Muni bus cake, complete with the 23-Monterey line sign and his name on the side. How awesome is this? The look on his face says it all.

Let’s take a close look at the edible version of the 23:

Once more, from the side.

Sonia tells us that the cake is by My Favorite Bite, and it was wholly approved by the birthday boy.

We’re just suckers for Muni-themed stuff, like this birthday party (with BART temporary tattoos!) and even this racing car from a couple of pretty cool Bernal dads.

If you’ve spotted some more Muni or BART-themed goodies in the wild, you know who to call! Email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Muni Diaries Live is back on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Elbo Room. Help us give the Elbo Room a proper send-off! Tickets are on sale now.

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From the literal mailbox: Quantum physics meets Pulp Fiction on Muni

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Dana Grae Kane, 72, is a self-described scarred veteran of the L-Taraval, having spent 29 years on that Metro line commuting between the Sunset and FiDi. Now retired and recovering on the Oregon coast, (pass the Pinot Noir!) she graciously took the time to send us a story, via snail mail y’all, from her Muni-riding past. 

One morning in the 1990s, a young heterosexual couple sat across from me, each engrossed in reading a book.

He was about 6’4″ and 250 lbs. of muscle, dressed in a T-shit and Gorilla work jeans, arms showing serious tough-guy tattoos, wearing a hard hat and massive steel-toed boots.

Diametrically opposed, she appeared to be an archetypically fluffy delicate flower—frail, pale, and fragile—probably often suffering categorization among “dumb blondes.”

I could hardly contain my surprise and delight when I realized what each was reading. She was engrossed in something that resembled Annals of Physics published by the Max Planck Society, while he was riveted in a romance novel of lurid cover, something that could easily be called Passion Under the Plum Trees by an author named Euphorbia Spindrift.

Thus, we may, after all, be able to judge books by their covers, but not so Muni riders.

As true today as it was 20 years ago, San Franciscans rarely fit into Column A or Column B—more often than not, you’ll find that we sample a little bit of both, and then some.

Extra thanks to Matt from the Elbo Room, where we hold our live storytelling shows twice a year. Ms. Kane addressed her typed and printed story, with impeccable cursive on the envelope, to Muni Diaries Live, and Matt was kind enough to forward it on:

Is your own so-San Francisco story burning a hole in your pocket? Share your tale with the world by tagging us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Or, our email inbox, muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com, is always open! And, for the record, so is our P.O. Box:

Muni Diaries
P.O. Box 640084
San Francisco, CA 94164

Top photo: juicyrai on Flickr

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags:
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