Bus Art Dispatch from The New York Times

new-york-times-subway-the-last-bus

The Sunday New York Times yesterday had a great op-ed (or “op-art” as they called it) by Miranda Purves and artist Jason Logan. The pic above is a snippet of the drawings they created by spending a lot of time on buses and subways that may be cut back after an MTA vote to reduce funding. Here, Purves explains why they created the project:

Both Jason and I have always been drawn to this phenomenon of people, behaving for the most part civilly, getting from here to there, side by side. And we wanted to find some way to convey the less tangible costs of service cuts and fare hikes.

I too am drawn to the transit-riding experience for this very same reason – the phenomenon of a group of people who otherwise may never encounter one another, sitting together and having a shared experience. Next time I am on a not-so-crowded bus I will draw up a similar diagram to see what I find! (It’d be near suicide to try to draw up something like this on a packed bus like the morning 38Ls…)

Who are some regulars on your bus? (And, wanna send us your own bus art?)

F: Rude but Hilarious

This is something I’ve never experienced before, a funny operator on an F that’s also obnoxious and rude at the same time (well, maybe there were several occasions before, but this is a first for me).

So I was riding the F, heading downtown from Fisherman’s Wharf, jam-packed as usual, but I’ve never ridden the F during the rush hour.

As we approached Pier 39, the operator said:

Clear the back door, I’m letting them both in. Well, obviously we can’t fit everyone on, so if you’re claustrophobic, don’t bother getting on, there are two more cars coming behind me, feel free to catch those cars too.

Read more

Nice people and good coffee …

muni_petes1The following is by Suzanne

Has anyone noticed how the baristas at the Embarcadero Peet’s Coffee are incredibly friendly and nice? I remembered them being peppy. The other morning I walked up to the counter bracing myself, ready to cringe at “happy happy happy” service, but instead I was charmed. This is no Burger World. The workers at Peet’s seemed genuinely nice. Their smiles were real! They made real eye contact. They joked and teased each other. It was mesmerizing. In a silly way, it melted the grumpster in me.

Cynics might say, “Wonder what they put in their coffee.” Sure, the coffee is good. But it was seeing people having a good time at work, being nice and silly to each other and customers alike that put a smile on my face. And then, when the caffeine kicked in … even the dullest doldrums in the T were looking pretty good.

1 240 241 242 243 244 261