Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Photo by Flickr user m o d e
Perhaps she’s in some other town, riding its public transit and acting like The Tourist? Either way, Tiffany’s not around this week. All that thought-penetration (ha!) took its toll, and we gave her the week off. Check back next Friday, though, when the Muni Mind Reader will be right back at it, spilling forth all the delicious and disgusting mind-conversations of her next subject.
From the Muni Diaries submissions inbox:
Friday, July 25, 2008
A scene on the bus today after work–
Old man: “People have no right to be cruel to the bus driver. The bus drivers work very hard. You need to show some respect to them.”
Old lady: “Uh huh, okay, okay…” (not really listening)
Old man: “That’s right, people shouldn’t flag down the bus driver and expect for him or her to wait for them; show some respect. Some people are so rude.”
Old lady: “Okay…” (shakes her head “no” and waves the guy down to make him stop talking)
Old man: “Oh yeah? Well same to you! It’s people like you who are not natives to San Francisco that make the city bad!”
Old lady: “Oh, YEAH? Well, I’VE LIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR 50 YEARS NOW, I am not an immigrant!”
Old man: “Well I’ve lived here for 75 years, so you shut your trap. All these immigrants need to just go home.”
Photo by Flickr user messtiza
I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this one, especially since I’m also the person who hates disabled people with casts, as well as small, innocent children on field trips.
It’s really kind of funny. Twenty-somethin’ gal with her BlackBerry and her text messaging and her internets. Older gentleman with his morning newspaper. Odd-couple comedy in the making!
So this man gets on the bus and grabs a seat next to me in a disabled section crowded with fellow commuters. I check to make sure there aren’t other older or pregnant folks trying to nab a seat, then get back to my internets. The gent opens his newspaper (the San Francisco Examiner, which I used to write for) and extends one side of it and his arm far into my seat/space. I politely say, “Excuse me,” and, thinking the issue is over, am actually surprised when he, clearly affronted, wants to know what I was excusing-me for.
Hmm, OK. I note as politely and even-voicedly (though also kind of flustered and surprised) as I can that his newspaper is in my space, and that if he could just fold up a bit more, that would be great. As easy as it could be to tell him he needed to back the F up, I first incorrectly said (who knew I’d actually have to explain it) his paper was touching me. OK (calm vibes), I guess it’s not exactly touching me, but it’s hovering over my lap, and I’m personally folded up as much as I can be, you know? I happen to agree with the fine etiquette ladies at Muni Manners, who noted in a post about this very phenomenon that folding your newspaper to lessen your impact, but still get your news, is the safe and courteous thing to do for all. Read more
On Monday, Tara’s post about Routesy and NextBus and NBIS received a belated comment from Kelly Beener, the VP of Marketing at AppTight, the company that makes iCommute-SF, a Routesy iPhone app competitor. (confused? check out the story to learn more.) It was a long and thoughtful comment. But because Muni Diaries is, for now, a blog, posts tend to fade away into obscurity. We felt that because AppTight is a player in this story, it was right to alert our readers of Kelly’s comment. Here’s a taste:
We’ve closely followed the progression of this controversy and understand why it is that there are so many differing opinions and why people can have such differing convictions as to who has what rights as it’s a lengthy history with many revisions, contracts, acquisitions and tranfers. That being said, we are quite happy with our relationship with NBIS and feel that it ultimately achieves the best possible service for the consumers.
Click here to read the full story and comments.
Photo by Flickr user chrisjbarker
Started seeing many tweets just now about an apparent Muni collision near West Portal Station. We’ll try to update this post as frequently as possible with new information. For now, there are reports of 12 injuries, and delays on the K, L, and M lines in both directions. Updates are in reverse-chronological order, beginning with the latest:
Update:(Wednesday) just caught wind, via Twitter, of the first-ever videos of the crash, from SFGateSF Appeal (wtf, SFGate?):
Presenting the July 2009 edition of Cable Car Confessions. This month, Laura tells us all about the newest addition to the fleet, as well as some of its VIP first riders. Our last president and his family never dared set foot in our little burg, much less hitch a ride on one of our historic treasures.
“Ding ding. All aboard. Next stop Powell Street Chinatown. Tickets please, show me your tickets please.” I heard about the unveiling of the new #15 San Francisco cable car from a blogger friend, who lives in Arizona. After hearing about this great cable car confession, I immediately talked to some of the conductors to hear their thoughts on the new car and the special guests riders.
Max, a cable car conductor, told me, “Even though so much has happened and changed in San Francisco, our cable cars are still the center of the inner workings of our city. To us San Franciscans, the sounds of the cable car bells chiming day and night are the natural sounds to the city. “
In fact, I must confess to you that when I travel and can’t hear the cable car bells at night, it feels too quiet. I can’t get to sleep! And if you told me this when I first got to San Francisco, I would have never believed you. I now can’t live without hearing passing cars, car alarms, foghorns and the ringing of bells. Read more