Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Well, I won’t give away the ending of the video above. But I will say that my neighborhood is better than yours. Oh, hell yeah! (By the way, I think the last game I played before this was Space Invaders, but I can’t be sure …)
Have you played yet? Here’s a list of all the locations. Send us video or stories of your experiences, and let us know which hood you’re playing for.
Go!
All photos by Julie Michelle
“No day I live here is ever the same. It might be the same Muni train, but there are new characters. It might be the same brunch place, but the stories shared always change. The people I hold dear will always be there, but our roles and relationships are always evolving.” – Kimberly
“The San Francisco I grew up in isn’t the one people imagine from watching reruns of Full House. Ingleside is a working class neighborhood served by the K Muni line. While riding the K along Ocean Avenue, I can spot tired people napping in their business suits, young couples saying goodbye at their stops, and parents reining in their rambunctious kids. While some neighborhoods can be easily pinned down with a few stereotypes, I don’t think I can say the same here.” – Anna
“San Francisco is the cool breath of fog, standing on a street corner cursing at Muni, Monday night Guinness in a North Beach pub.” – Jax
“The young dispatcher I worked with on Sunday mornings told me I should consider urban planning as a vocation, and lent me a copy of Jane Jacobs’ The Death & Life of Great American Cities. He’s a Muni driver now, and I see him occasionally on the system around town. There’s never time to thank him for illuminating my purpose, and I keep meaning to return his copy of the book.” – Megan
“Having lived in major cities for the last 10 years, I was surprised at my initial trepidation about riding the Muni. The 19 and the 47 are my lines. Today, I appreciate them because they get me from here to there and everywhere in between with a little bit of flare, if you will, but in those first few rides I distinctly remember my shoulders at my ears and a look of confused horror that was most assuredly ill-masked by my please-don’t-notice-me-I’m-just-sitting-here-minding-my-own-business face. Thanks, Muni, you really make this town feel like a city.” – Nell.
“Undeniably, we’re also a pretty random town. Each slide of the Muni doors is a theatre-like lottery where two bucks can really change your life. People are almost never what they seem.” – Chris
“I love how this city whispers all these sweet forevers to my heart… In this city I have experienced the kindness of Muni drivers who allow me to hop on when I do not have enough money to pay the fare. I always think that they allow me to ride for free because they know that I should not be out in the streets that late at night.” – Mayanin
“Now, when people ask where I live, I can hardly contain my pride, my sense of life, when I say San Francisco. There’s nowhere quite like it on earth. From twisting drives up Highway ‘1’ North, with barely a second without a world-class view, to late nights in the Mission. From evenings in a tub overlooking the bay, to friendly heart-warming conversations with complete strangers on the Muni. From the madness of the never-ending stream of street-parties to the calm of the Botanical Gardens – all just a cycle away.” – Tom
These photos are just some of the more than 180 subjects who are featured in this exhibit, presented with art by Chris Rusak and film from Rick Prelinger. Your last chance to see this exhibit is tonight (Tuesday Nov. 30) — we’ll be celebrating from 5-7 p.m. at SOMArts (934 Brannan Street between 8th and 9th Streets). And yes, you’ll find out who will take home the 30-Stockton bus shelter too. See you there!
Photo by Art Siegel
The bus was steaming up when a young guy standing in front of me with a long braided ponytail reached over to open the window. But just as soon as he opened the window, the big guy next to him reached over to slam the window shut. Without a word, Pony Tail reached over again to open it. Then Big Guy slammed it shut again. Shit was about to go down.
“Hey what’s wrong with you, I just wanna open the window, dude, get some air,” Pony Tail guy said.
Big Guy murmured something testily.
“Whatchu lookin’ at me like that for? What, no, it’s not cold! It’s hot in here! What? You wanna do this?” Pony Tail shoved a finger into Big Guy’s chest. “You wanna do this?”
Big Guy shoves back at Pony Tail. The older woman sitting next to me yells, “You guys, STOP IT!”
Big Guy stepped up closer to Pony Tail and said something we couldn’t hear, then Pony Tail said loudly, “I was just opening the window, and dude here with his hella BAD BREATH is trying to start shit!”
A young woman sitting behind Pony Tail started laughing, and now Pony Tail had an audience.
“You gonna start something with me, over air? You gonna try to send my ass to jail, because I want some air?” Pony Tail said.
The older woman next to me was not amused. “You should go to jail!” she yells.
Pony Tail wasn’t deterred. “Dude, if this was my stop we would both get off here and we would settle this outside!”
Finally audible, Big Guy said that, actually, this WAS his stop, and that they should indeed get off the bus here together.
“But this isn’t my stop, yo?” Pony Tail protests. “I was saying if this was my stop I would settle it with you!”
Big Guy got off the bus and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Pony Tail continued to talk about how he would have caught a cold or the flu if he hadn’t opened the window to get some fresh air, what with so many people being sick and this is the flu season and everything.
Minutes later, a young woman wearing a white sweater boarded the bus and made her way toward us and Pony Tail.
“Heeeeey girl,” Pony Tail said to the young woman, who clearly didn’t know him.
“I like your number! What is it?”
Muni Diaries is built from your stories from life on the bus. Got a Muni story? Whether it’s audio, video, photographs, or just simple prose, you know the place to share it.
@ohdottie shared this delightful slice of San Francisco life. And here we thought decorated streetcars heralded the holiday season …
Andrew will be reading from his new book, East Eats West, at the Book Passage in the Ferry building in San Francisco on Dec. 7, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Photo by Tenderblog
Here’s one:
“One rainy night I was on my way home on the N-Judah. The train was nearly empty and I was reading Fahreinheit 451. A young man came and sat next to me, which I thought was strange as there were plenty of open seats. He asked me what I was reading and said that he didn’t read a lot but remembered that he liked this book when he was a kid. He said he didn’t have much money for books. So I gave him my book and told him to enjoy it — and to give it to someone else when he was done. He agreed and then it was my stop so I got off and went home.” – Julie
Come to Julie’s closing night party tomorrow, Tuesday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and find out who gets to take the bus shelter home. SOMArts is located at 934 Brannan Street. And don’t forget: voting ends at midnight tonight! Vote here, unless you already have.