Blame the victim

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I spotted this ad campaign on the side of an underground Muni trolley the other day. I’m having trouble totaling up the number of things wrong with it. I mean, sure, it’s a smart idea for pedestrians in SF not to use their headphones when there are buses stampeding through the streets, but I don’t think the fact that someone didn’t hear the bus is an excuse for the driver to plow over them as though they weren’t there. Second, why is the bus in this ad speeding away after knocking the dude to the curb?

What else is wrong with this ad campaign? What do you think of it?

Category: News

NYE Free-for-All!

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As Greg at N-Judah Chronicles has chronicled, Muni rides are set to be liberated after 8 p.m. tonight. Buses and Muni Metro trains will be free from that point until 6 a.m. Route and time details can be found on SFMTA’s website.

We cannot encourage you enough to take advantage of this great service. Yes, Muni will probably still be a pain, and you may have to wait. But it’s the safest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly way to navigate the seven-by-seven on this crazy night.

So with the perfect storm of New Year’s Eve revelry, free public transit, and Palestine-Israel protests, there’s bound to be some juicy episodes on buses and trains tonight. What a perfect chance to tell everyone what you see and hear! You’ve probably got the day off tomorrow, and maybe Friday also.

Consider this the Muni Diaries equivalent of a public television or radio pledge drive. In the spirit of making 2009 an awesome year, start by sharing your New Year’s Eve stories!

Photo: Flickr user wpfphotos

Category: News

Milkmobile

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In October, I wrote about how Muni dedicated one of its historic streetcars on the F-Market/Wharves line to slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Though best known for his tireless fight for equal rights in the LGBT community, he was also Muni’s best friend in Silly Hall, as he called it, advocating for better transit in San Francisco. He was the first SF supervisor to regularly use his FastPass and the first SF supervisor to take Muni to work every day from his home in the Castro.

I learned these things after stepping into a packed-to-the-gills, green-and-white F-car yesterday afternoon, not realizing it was the Harvey Milk car I wrote about a couple months prior. I took these blurry photos with my phone before it crapped out on me, and spent a lot of time staring at the old photos and reading the info in this mobile tribute. This was the same car featured in Milk, the critically acclaimed Gus Van Sant movie about Milk and his time in San Francisco politics.

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Category: diaries, reflection

Purse burglary on 38L. Merry Xmas Eve!

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Damned kids.

I wonder what they stole if it wasn’t her wallet or phone? Sounds like an EPIC FAIL burglary attempt to me.

Um, so yeah, don’t leave your purse open while you’re spacing out on the bus, especially if there are snotty teenagers on the bus with you. From extensive sociological study (i.e. staring passive-aggressively at them when they bother me), I find that when they’re not screaming at one another, at the bus driver, into their phones or all of the above, they’re eying your blank stare and swanky purse of grown-up goodies.

I had a theory that teenagers are pretty much the worst category of people in the world, and I haven’t been proven wrong just yet.

And if today’s San Francisco Examiner story about truancy is any indication, they best watch out for the narcs.

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