Breastfeeding on the 71L

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On est bien chez sa maman

In March, we posted a photo of a woman breastfeeding on the J-Church. The post prompted a lot of comments on either side of the public-breastfeeding debate. We learned that it is perfectly legal (of course, why wouldn’t it be?) to breastfeed in public in California — in fact, it is illegal to prohibit anyone from doing so in a public place. But what’s legal might still be considered out of the norm, as you can see from this email that we got from Mary today.

At 5:15 p.m. last night, the 71L was packed with the usual mixed clientele of workers, tourists and street people. At Van Ness a woman with small baby in front carrying pack got on the bus. She was offered a couple of seats as she passed toward the back of the bus, but she said she would stand. She had a cover over the baby, but as she passed me I could see from the side she was breast feeding the baby.

About four stops later the bus driver, woman, stood up and asked that the woman with the baby come forward. She did. After the bus driver spoke to her, she turned around and said to everyone, “Hey there’s no pornography going on here so you can all relax,” as she made her way back through the bus to where she had been standing. As she spoke to the woman accompanying her, she said the driver said several passengers had complained about her showing her breasts.

Unbelievable. It took me back 40 years to when I was breast feeding my son in the reception area of UCSF Medical Center and a security guard came and asked me to go to the restroom to feed my son. Yes, I had a blanket over him and me and “nothing” was showing.

So the most natural and best of motherhood is still not acceptable on Muni in San Francisco.

And as all this played out, two very intoxicated men stood over me swearing and carrying on a very drunk conversation about sex with some tourist woman they had met.

And Muni wants me to pay $1 more a day for this ride!

– Mary Stream

Good for the driver to stand up for this mom. I’m surprised that passengers would have complained to the driver about the mother showing her breasts. If you’ve been a reader of this blog or if you’ve been on Muni at all, you’d know there are plenty of other things to complain about besides breastfeeding.

Photo by Flickr user Raphael Goetter

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags: , ,

Two-Seat-Takin’, Big-Balls-Havin’ Guy, in Photos

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Since time immemorial, we’ve known about his type. Recently, Muni Mind Reader Tiffany Maleshefski paid tribute to him — he who takes up more than one seat on Muni solely by virtue of being well-endowed in the genital region (we suspect, rather flatteringly).

Well, Tiffany did us all the favor of capturing some images of this unfortunately not-so-rare species. For your enjoyment, watch as this man’s leg migrates ever closer to Tiffany’s lap. A note from Tiffany: “My leg is the brown trouser pant. You’ll note we are not dating and don’t know each other at all. Yet he is perfectly comfortable having his legs in my personal space.”

More photos of this progression below the fold …

assonseat

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Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, Photos Tags: ,

30 Injured in 71 Haight-Noriega Crash

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71 Haight Noriega

Thirty people were hurt, many seriously, in the Muni bus crash on Market and Jones last night around 8 p.m., according to CBS5, SFist, the Examiner, and our usual local media sources. The 71 bus crashed into another car, both going east on Market, reports the Chronicle (via Bay City News).  Seven people were taken to the hospital and 23 were treated at the scene, Muni spokeswoman Kristen Holland told CBS5. The driver has been put on non-driving status.

We’ve reported about several past Muni crashes (F vs Zip car, N vs vehicle,  Muni blocking intersection). Earlier this year, an ex-Tribune reporter died from Muni accident injuries. We learned last year that Muni has paid out nearly  $66 mil to “people who allege injuries, fatalities, and property damage caused by the agency’s transit fleet.” Muni has reportedly been cracking down on their safety records.

So what the hell happened? The cause of the accident is still under investigation. No word yet on who was at fault. If you’ve got pictures or were around the scene, email us, tweet, or comment below.

Photo by Flickr user backofthebuspodcast of a 71-Haight/Noriega on a better day.

Category: News Tags:

Douche bag alert and regulation

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Cigar guyMy colleague Jeff and I were finishing up our drinks at 83 Proof around Midnight, last Thursday night-Friday morning – big shout out to Hazel and Mark, btw – after a hectic night of editin’, paginatin’ and copyeditin’ for the SF Examiner. While plotting our next move, Jeff suggested we go to the Toronado since we were going to the Lucky 13 – our regular Thursday night watering hole – the following night to drink with Muni Diaries’ own Jeff Hunt and Tara Ramroop, who are celebrating their recent engagement (Like it hasn’t been mentioned on Muni Diaries a hundred times already, but, I digress). So I says, “Since you want to go to the Toronado, I suggest we take the 6-Parnassus, cause it’ll drop us off right out front.” After some haggling and debate over the length of time the 6 will take versus the underground, Jeff acquiesced to my suggestion, and what a great decision that turned out to be.

With “trusty” nextbus on my cell phone, I saw that we had 5 minutes to catch one at Market and Battery streets. Five minutes turned into about 6 or 7, but the bus did come (thankfully) and we got on. I sat in the seat on the driver’s side that has that extra leg room, just behind the first row that faces forward. Jeff sat on the seat behind me, and at this time, we were the only passengers on the bus. As we head down Market, stop to stop, the usual mish-mash of folks slowly amble on, from the young man with the drum sticks and faux-hawk, to the late-shift restaurant workers getting off work, to the quiet, silent types with their headphones and glasses, to the crackhead who had a hard time getting his fare together who then sat behind the driver not far from the young man with drum sticks and proceeded to sing and talk to himself trying to make eye contact with everyone in the front of the bus. This caused young man with drum sticks and faux-hawk to move to the back of the bus, opposite the driver’s side, to the seats that face each other. He sat in the row facing the front of the bus. A couple stops later, wanna be alpha-male and overall-slick mother fucker douche bag gets on the bus.

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Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, reflection Tags: ,

Weekend Photo Diary: Going Somewhere?

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Girl With Makeup

Well, finally! God is starting to behave like he should, damning this sleepy, quiet coastal town with a weekend of more or less shitty weather. Oh, well. Most of us would trade righteousness and cherubs for the debauchery-laden burg we call home. Right?

Speaking of debauchery, this weekend, among other goings-on, is Carnaval in the Mission. If you’re planning on Muni-ing anywhere near that neighborhood either Saturday or Sunday, do yourself a favor and peep this MTA Carnaval route schedule. Oh, and have a great weekend!

xoxo, Muni Diaries

Photo by sflovestory from Muni Photos Flickr Group pool.

Category: diaries, Photos
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