Weekend Photos: Life on Muni
Photo by @sydlawrence
Enjoy these photos and see you tomorrow at the Elbo Room!
Photo by sydlawrence
Photo by David Lytle
Photo by throgers
Category: Story Archive
‘Jack. In. The. Box. Jackinthebox.’
Photo by nchenga nchenga
Whoa, Nelly. Karen has quite the 38-Geary experience to share. Let the tea steep, get comfortable, and take this one in.
But one night stands out above all others, and has changed the way I think about a certain fast food restaurant – or at least the way I pronounce it.
I got on at Market and Fremont, as usual, and settled in. To get to 14th and Geary took forever, especially since the 38L had stopped running and that meant that we had to stop at every single stop. A few blocks later, a man in a filthy ski jacket with a pik and a Butterfinger wrapper in his giant afro got on and sat directly in front of me. He smelled a little ripe. “Oh great,” I thought, especially after I heard him muttering to himself. “It’s going to be a really, really long ride.” But then I leaned in closer to hear what he was saying.
“Jackinthebox. Jackinthebox. Jack. In. The. Box. Jackinthebox. Jackinthebox. Jack. In. The Box. Jackinthebox.”
Wow. He was clearly a big Jack in the Box fan, and I figured that I would be amused up until we got to the Jack in the Box at Mason, where he would get off. I listened, delightedly, as he chanted and muttered and proclaimed his favorite selections – “Teri-YAKI BOWL! Teri-YAKI Bowl? Jumbojack CHEESEBURGER!”
However, Mason St came and went, and two people had moved just to get away from him. And I realized:
He was going to the Jack in the Box on 10th and Geary. One stop before mine. YESSS!!!!!!!!!!
So the entire way, I got to hear his chanting and his monologue, which got crazier and crazier and faster and faster as the ride went on. Just past Japantown he opened the window and started throwing out stuff from his pockets; napkins and wrappers and whatever else was in there. (The Butterfinger wrapper stayed put, though.) I like to think it was confetti for the party that was ABOUT TO HAPPEN. By this time, about 3 other people had changed seats to get away from him, as he was bouncing with glee.
And then… We were in the Avenues. Just past Arguello he started getting really excited, and the chanting got louder. “Jackinthebox, jackinthebox, jack. In. The. Box. jackinthebox, JACKINTHEBOX!!!!!!!!” People gave each other looks like, “Whoa, he is cuh-raaaaaaazy,” but I refused to participate. I was on HIS SIDE. He could unleash all the crazy he wanted – he was so steadfast in his love for Jack in the Box, his intentions so pure, that he had my full support. (And my undying love, only matched by his undying love for Jack’s Buttermilk House Dressing which he shouted about just past Van Ness.)
At 8th and Geary, his excitement could not be contained. (Neither could mine.) He started ringing the bell, and his “Jackinthebox” mantra had hit a fevered pitch. As the bus slowed down to pull over, he was rocking back and forth with such force that my bench was shaking. And then, the bus came to a stop and he jumped up with a mighty scream…
And farted directly in my face.
The last I saw of my Jack in the Box friend he was tearing across Geary, arms akimbo, running to the Promised Land of Sourdough Cheeseburgers and Curly Fries. I thought of him barging in on the unsuspecting workers and customers, and was jealous. They had no idea what treat was in store for them!
I have a few regrets in my life – giving up my supercheap apartment downtown, saying “sure, I’d love to go on a date with you!” to a few people, being an English major – but the one I regret most of all is not getting off the bus and following him into that Jack in the Box. What did he order? How did he pay? Did he replace the Butterfinger wrapper with perhaps a packet of taco sauce? Ahhh, mysteries of life for which we’ll never have an answer. But some things I know for sure: I have never been able to say, “Jack in the Box” the same way ever again, and every time I see the commercials, I think of him and hope he’s enjoying a delicious Jumbo Jack, wherever he is… Even if it’s on the 38-Geary.
It’s best to keep regrets to a minimum, we say. Stop holding back, and share your amazing Muni stories today.
iThwart: Muni iPhone Theft Gone Wrong
Photo by Steve Rhodes
Last night, three 38Ls rode by, all of them packed to the gills, so I waited for the regular. When it came, it wasn’t crowded but there weren’t any free seats, so I stood near the accordion fold.
There were a few kids in the back door stairwell. They played with their phones and slurped tapioca drinks.I don’t know why I watched the kids – nothing else to occupy myself with, I guess.
Most of them got out at Scott, then a couple at Divisadero.
The bus stopped at Baker and the doors opened with their usual hydraulic whoosh.
Two kids got out, and then the last kid lunged at a woman sitting across from the door and ripped the iPhone out of her hands.
She pulled away from him and shouted something. And then I was at the door too, yelling, “HEY, HEY, HEY!” as loudly as I could, grabbing for the boy, grabbing for the bright white phone, the headphones, whatever I could get a hold of.
We scrabbled for the phone and got it back. The kid took off down the street, his hood covering his face, no chance to identify him if it ever came to that.
The bus driver didn’t pay any attention. She shut the doors and we were on our way.
The woman sat back down and wound her headphones around her phone before shoving it into her bag.
“Thanks,” she said.
No one else said a thing, and no one moved.
Wow. Watch out for your phones, purses, and other items on the bus, everybody. Not everyone’s lucky enough to ride the bus with Rachel. Got your own Muni story? We wanna hear it.
Commuter Reflections
A peaceful, solitary ride is like winning the lottery, especially on those cloggy Muni Metro trains. Unless there is untold ruckus on either side of him, this rider seemingly lucked out. Still, call me crazy: I prefer when my public-transit chariot is full and quiet. I like leprechauns and white whales, too.
Nice pic from @jsoncorwin. Join the cool kids and tweet your travels with Muni to @munidiaries.
Muni Uno!
Photo Diary: Erase Muni in 3, 2, …
Photo by Ryan S.
, who said:
This pic was the result of the auto-HDR app on my phone; the bus drove through the intersection while the app was taking bracketed-exposure shots, causing it to look like the bus is being erased.
If I were writing some hardboiled science fiction, this photo would be from 500 years into the future, where my memory of Muni is being projected onto an altered version of my self…
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