Author: Tara

Tara Ramroop has laughed, cried, and commiserated with this amazing community from the start. She's been writing for as long as she can remember and riding Muni for more than a decade.

Conversation Bubble Over Bubble Shoes on Muni

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Outta-town friend Jeanette snapped this pic while we were on the 22 last weekend. Perfect timing: as Jeff and I foisted her and her husband into the bus, I swore that cool stuff happens on Muni all the time. Lo and behold, yelling guy took the afternoon off and a bunch of nice people, one of whom was sporting these bubble shoes, showed up as if on cue.

Between one guy asking if they were comfortable (A: yes) and my friend wondering about the traction (A: surprisingly traction-y), the 22 shined as a mix of kind, curious, and fashion-forward. Shoe Gal was also a great sport, entertaining questions from four strangers and granting this photo op.

The deets on the footwear: plastic shoes from Brazilian company Melissa. Its proper name is the Melissa + Gaetano Pesce II Shoe, named for the Italian architect and designer.

Bold statement for sure; hot or not? They didn’t float my boat, personally, but these copper versions are growing on me.

Category: diaries, Photos Tags:

John Waters Rides the 47, Wants to Be Muni Spokesman

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Image: No Bunny Luvs You

100 Muni StoriesFrom No Bunny Luvs You’s Tumblr, via Uptown Almanac, here’s John Waters on Muni. Because he is John Waters, he’s being cool as a cucumber, badass, and probably very polite. Why isn’t he ever on my 47? I bet he always pays his fare share.

The Baltimore-based filmmaker has a well-documented love of Muni. In fact, he made our day recently when he wandered into our inbox:

Tell them thanks…I am waiting for Muni to hire me as their spokesperson!!

What say, SFMTA? I think you should take him up on it.

This post and other have been selected to be part of our 100 Days, 100 Muni Stories feature that celebrates Muni’s centennial this year. The best four of these 100 posts will end up on ads on all Muni buses later this year, so send us your story today!

Category: 100 Muni Stories, diaries, Photos Tags:

The Accordion Files — Cool Things in Muni’s Squishy Part

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MUNI 7012
Photo by Frank Deanrdo

Yesterday, I posted about this guy’s Christmas Chuck Taylors. I said that some of the most interesting stuff happens in the accordion: those four seats in the squishy middle of articulated buses. Then, @SF_CableCar offered this suggestion:

Fun! Maybe you should start a section dedicated to unusual happenings in the accordion part of the bus & call it ‘The Accordion Files.’

Cable cars have the best ideas. Ask and ye shall receive.

Forget the back of the bus; sit in the gooey center and tell us what’s happening in it. You, too, might find great shoes or, as Jeff did a few years ago, a guy who rubs his snot on the handrail. Ew!

This idea couldn’t have come at a better time. On the 38 recently, I sat in the accordion and wondered what would happen if I and the three others had to make like Sandra Bullock and save the bus or even the world. Indeed, what if I, the lady praying her rosary, the girl with 80 shopping bags in the aisle, and the impeccably dressed older gentleman were humanity’s only hope? The accordion does wacky things to a lone rider with a dead phone.

Though we may never see that level of excitement, we still want to hear about it. Email us, tweet us @munidiaries, or chat us up on the Muni Diaries Facebook Page.

Category: diaries, News Tags: ,

Muni’s Number-One in My Book, Too

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Photo: epugachev

Over at 16th and Church, rider Jayne made a run for the J-Church stopped at a red light. She says that, despite some hand-waving and the presence of two more would-be passengers, the driver ignored them and bailed once the light was green. Try to contain your surprise. But that’s not where this tale ends.

I decided to walk to the Church St. Station to catch the Metro. When [I] arrived at Market/Church, I saw the J streetcar was struck in traffic at Safeway. I proceed to walk down to the subway and catch a train to Van Ness Station. When I arrived at Van Ness…I saw the J-Church that didn’t opened the door for me slowly arriving…so I made my way on the platform to the front and, as the J pulled up, I stood at the side of the driver’s cab and gave him the finger and let it linger there for about 10 seconds or so.

There’s a first time for everything: 30-plus years of ridership, and she says it’s the first time she flipped off a driver.

Well, we’ve all been there: riding the high (“You’re stuck at a red, thank jeebus! Open up, kind sir or madam!”) and the low (“Oh. Walking won’t be so bad, I guess). Literally giving Muni the middle finger could be a bit much, but getting stonewalled is obviously a shit picnic.

What say, Muni riders? Is finger warranted here?

Category: diaries, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags: ,
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