Muni Diaries Anniversary Favorite: Livin’ the dream, for at least one night

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Muni Diaries is gearing up to celebrate our first anniversary this Friday. What started out as an idea at SF State has grown into a community of lively transit tales and spirited discussion of our beloved bus system. Below is the first of a series that looks back at our favorite diaries over the last year. Today’s favorite diary was chosen by Jeff: “I love this post because it’s the ultimate tale to be envious of. A lot of us dream of doing the most extraordinary of ordinary things, like driving a cab in NYC or a bus in San Francisco. Tony was fortunate enough to take a stab a that ‘dream,’ and he tells the story like a true master storyteller.” Check back tomorrow for Eugenia’s favorite diary.


Lyon

Livin’ the dream, for at least one night (originally posted on July 31, 2008)

When I was kid growing up in this burg, I never wanted to be cowboy. I didn’t want to be an astronaut, either, or even a rock star. I kind of wanted to be a baseball player and I was a pretty good pitcher, but not that good. Anyway, what I really wanted to be was a Muni driver.

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Bus Art Dispatch from The New York Times

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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?)

Category: reflection

F: Rude but Hilarious

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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.

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Good Morning, My American Friends!

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I love my outbound L train conductor so much. Here are some things he has told us:

Good morning, my American friends! We are on time today! (What? It’s 8:31!)

Help us stay on time. It is up to you. Anticipate your exit. Be patient. We all work together. America is beautiful, and trust me, I’ve lived in a lot of places. Everyone here helps each other.

It is a beautiful morning! I request this time for working because you are all so special to me. Someone out there loves you. Muni loves you. You are just beginning your day, but I am ending mine now. Have a beautiful day.

One time he told us the set-up of a joke at the start of the tunnel and told us the answer at Embarcadero. I want to write to Muni and tell them how great he is, but I keep forgetting to write down the coach number.

Photo by Flickr user The Retrospective.

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Share your own Muni driver story! One can only hope we have more drivers like this.

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