Catch me if you can

Photo by Flickr user Octoferret

So a few weeks ago, I’m waiting for whichever Mission bus shows up first at Mission and 30th. The 14 and 49 show up simultaneously, as they seem to like to. The lead bus, the 14, is super packed, so I board the trailing 49. As I sit down, I notice a harried girl and her boyfriend looking sullen and distraught at the bus stop outside: unlike me, who just wanted a ride up Mission St, they specifically needed that 14. And perhaps because it was super packed or because they were slowed by the luggage they carried, they missed it. My 49 driver notices their distress and starts shouting – SHOUTING – at them, “Come on, come on, get on! Get on, we’ll catch it! I’ll catch him!” Only, she is inside a bus made of steel and windows, and they are outside of it, so they don’t hear her shouts.

So she starts banging on her horn, continuing to scream at them. Alarmed yet curious, they board the bus. “Oh, I’ll catch him, alright. I’ll show him who’s boss!” It’s at this point, I swear, that she excitedly rubs her hands together. She has been waiting for this moment for weeks, it seems. She is going to catch their bus.

After jerkily gunning the bus out of the stop, the driver continues to loudly narrate this journey – eg, “Think you can outrun me?! I’ll show what I’ve got…” – while careening wildly up the street, skipping stops. I honestly don’t think anyone cared; they seemed pretty up for this adventure, which I sadly don’t have a conclusion for because I got off before they did. Though I can easily say this was the fastest ride I’ve ever taken up Mission — on the interminable 49, no less.

Related posts:

1. How to Catch a Muni Bus
2. Manly Men Drive The 14 Mission
3. How many 14-Missions does it take?