A Letter to a Fellow Passenger
Photo by Flickr user Mylla
The use of cell phones appears to be the biggest bus etiquette faux pas this week. Rider Sara had an earful of phone conversation on the 5 from “Caroline” so she’s written her a personal letter here.
Caroline, summer student at the Lines Ballet School at USF, SHUT THE HELL UP.
The next time you think it’s a good idea to get on a completely packed 5 during evening rush hour and make phone call after phone call, why don’t you actually stop and think about it. And realize it is a terrible idea. I don’t need to hear you scream to your friend that, after much consideration, you decided you’d like to go to law school at Harvard or Yale. Oh, wow, it took consideration to realize the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked law schools in the nation are where you need to be? Good luck fighting for those spots with the million other idealistic kids who are going to apply to law school this year.
But as you said, your dad is right, you’re a shoe-in. I mean, you did three practice LSAT questions and got them all right! Congratulations. And your dream of going to law school so you can work at a nonprofit? I hope you’re willing to fight with the zillion laid off lawyers and deferred incoming associates whose law firms are paying them to go work at nonprofits.
Fortunately, I was able to turn my Kanye West up loud enough to drown out whatever you said next. That is, until you took the empty seat next to me and proceeded to call person after person at USF to inquire about the iPod you lost on campus today. It probably got stolen while you were on the 5 by someone like me who wanted you to pay dearly for making their commute more irritating than usual. I hope whoever stole it is enjoying the Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson you most likely have on that damn thing.
Got a Muni gripe or a holler? Let us know.
Related posts:
in regards to the previous post, and the discussion of how smoking by drivers should be handled, i can only offer this suggestion to cellphone-talking-volume-offenders: YOU should be fired. as in, pipe down, hang up, or get off the bus. your choice.
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Ah, the ballerina stories are starting to trickle in…
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i know it’s summer in san francisco when the ballerinas start taking over the 5 fulton
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People really have a problem with people talking on their phone while riding the bus? Interesting.
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jeff Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 8:42 am
i have a problem with people talking loudly on their phone on the bus. show some decency and restraint, eh?
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suckerpunch Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 8:53 am
If you want peace & quiet, maybe living in a major city and riding its public transportation isn’t for you.
Sure, a little quiet sometimes might be nice, but getting worked up about it on the bus probably isn’t the most productive use of energy.
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eugenia Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Sometimes I quite enjoy overhearing the cellphone conversations on the bus, especially when it is an inappropriate conversation, which I usually promptly tweet any juicy quotes I overhear.
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Sorry, suckerpunch, but “just deal” isn’t good enough for some of us. I mean, what do you think sites like Muni Diaries are for, if not to spread our indignation and find kindred souls? ;)
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Sorry for being the voice of reason, I realize there is no place for it on a blog.
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jeff Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 9:11 am
apparently, sara (author of the post) and i are not alone: don’t mess with the Manners Ladies. can you blame us for trying to introduce etiquette? wait, don’t answer that …
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suckerpunch Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I won’t further address the etiquette of of personal communication devices in a public sphere but seriously, do we need (at least) two blogs that are Muni specific?
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thank you for use the image
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