For every case of the Mondays (and there are many around here judging by the @munidiaries Twitter feed), there are less-manic commutes on everyone’s least-favorite day of the week. Muni rider Shoshannah proves as much with a fun driver and lessons of the life, Russian- and Spanish-language varieties.
A Muni ride memorable for its friendly interactions, not its surliness? It must be Bizarro Monday!
I was reverse-commuting to an appointment on a 2 Clement headed outbound, so it wasn’t a[s] crowded (which probably helped the mood). There was a driver-in-training behind the wheel and his supervisor/coach was a driver I recognized from last year. (He had been incredibly patient assisting an elderly passenger on the same route.) I took a seat towards the back but with everyone lost in their silent, solo Monday world it was easy to hear the supervising driver’s interactions with regular passengers as they came on.
First was an older Russian woman with whom he traded English-Russian-Spanish lessons. (“How do you say ‘No good!”?) Soon after that a mother and her little boy, about seven years old, got on the bus. He greeted them right away and started up a conversation with the boy. Here are some choice gems from the conversation (paraphrased as well as I can remember them).
“You’re going to be a politician some day…No, that’s a good thing!”
“When you’re mayor of this town, make sure you remember me.”
And my favorite:
“When girls want to know your first name, what they’re really interested in is your last name. So stay away from girls!”
I’m sure this was all over the head of this first-grader but it sure was hilarious for those of us without earbuds.
I got some ribbing recently for looking at my phone (for a minute, I swear) instead of my happiest-hour date, but it’s true: There are way nicer things to see, hear, and touch right in front of us—which you can share after your time in the 3D world.
Photo by Lynn Friedman
