Vigilante operator’s assistant on the 8X

8x
Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch

Frequent Muni Diaries contributor and wunderkind Whole Wheat Toast shares this diary:

I was at 6th and Harrison waiting for the 8X to take me into Visitacion Valley for some photowalking. The bus comes.

But instead of the usual “show the driver the pass and go in,” I was greeted by a male, probably the same age as me, maybe older, that said very loudly, “PLEASE MOVE TO THE REAR OF THE BUS!” I thought he could be somebody hired by Muni, but then again, I couldn’t find a Muni badge on him.

As the bus pulled away from the bus stop, he kept yelling repeatedly for people to move behind the yellow line. People kept telling him that there was no room to move.

The bus enters the highway. Shortly after the bus merges onto the freeway, the person catches another guy, telling him, “CAN YOU PLEASE MOVE BACK BECAUSE THE DRIVER NEEDS TO SEE THE MIRROR!” That’s when I noticed he was in front of the yellow line.

But, that’s not all he does. As the bus neared the exit to Silver Avenue, he startled me as he called out the stop. “SILVER! SAN BRUNO AND FELTON!”

Alas, it gets more interesting. As the bus approaches Felton, he heads to the front door. As soon as the driver opened the door, he jumped down the stairs, and stopped everyone who wanted to get on from getting on. “STOP! LET THE PEOPLE OFF!” Everyone that was getting off at the stop got off at the back, and because he blocked off the entrance of the bus, the people that wanted to get on got on through the back.

He eventually got off the next stop, at Bacon. After he got off, a sigh of relief by the passengers on the front of the bus.

Then again, I’m glad this guy was dedicated to doing something the driver was unwilling to do; we need more Muni drivers like him. But then again, I kinda feel sorry for the driver for having to deal with this guy.

2 comments

  • MUNIfriend

    I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this guy too. He’s an Asian guy with glasses who gets on in Chinatown and does his schtick.

    He actually pushes old ladies and others towards the back! I’ve seen one driver tell him to “SHUT THE HELL UP!!”

    That nasally voice and self righteous attitude is going to get his ass kicked (hopefully) soon.

    Wonder if he went up against Frank (12 Galaxies Guy) Chiu who would win?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *