Megan boarded the bus the other day routinely. Little did she know she was in for a pleasant surprise.

I climbed into the 10-Townsend bus at Washington and was greeted with a rare surprise. I was the only passenger. It was like I had my own giant Muni Taxi and this pleased me.

As our journey through Pac Heights continued, my newfound private driver began engaging me in conversation. First he pointed out a cute bulldog. Then he squealed in excitement before going on to tell me that bulldogs are adorable but need plenty of training.

The rest of the ride continued this way, him pointing out various pooches and giving me extensive information about their behavior, breeding, temper, etc.

One particular pack really upset him, though. He told me they were ugly and went on to exclaim how he hates ugly dogs. Apparently there’s a television show called “World Ugliest Dogs” that especially unnerves him.

Also as it turns out, my Muni Driver enjoys racing dogs recreationally. He’s what one might call a man of many talents.

The bus began to fill up and unfortunately our conversation began to taper. My exit was bittersweet.

Normally I curse the Muni, but not today. Today I thank you. Because of you, I made a friend.

Have you had a memorable experience on Muni lately? Share your stories here on Muni Diaries.

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Mari spotted this four-legged friend on the 10-Townsend the other morning. Oddly, the dog doesn’t appear to magically be making everyone around it happy. We’re scratching our heads.

Seen, heard, smelled something odd on Muni? Share it on Muni Diaries.

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Jared @lickthefridge was on a 10-Townsend in May when the bus stopped, jarringly and strangely, at Second and Folsom. He says he still wonders how this story ended.

I tried to hang onto the pole and I was spun around and dropped my book into the stairwell where I had fallen…I picked up my book. I expected the bus to continue moving again…But the driver was still in his seat and was not out in the streets trying to reconnect it.

The bus driver did not say anything and from my vantage point in the back of the bus I could not see outside very clearly. The passengers on the bus began to talk and complain and inquire about what was going on. The driver made no announcements and would not answer anyone’s questions. He continued to sit in his seat.

When it became apparent that the bus was not going to continue its route, people in the front of the bus began to exit. I tried to exit out the back doors but the doors would not open. I waited as the line of people moved forward to the front of the bus and exited.

While I was waiting to move to the front of the bus, sirens from police cars and an ambulance and a fire engine filled the air. The hustle bustle of the city streets was reduced to background noise. A police officer came onto the bus and ordered everyone to get off the bus.

As I stepped off the front steps into the street, the cause of the sudden stop became apparent. Lying in the street about five feet diagonally from the bus’s front right tire was a young woman. She was semi-curled up with her hands by her side.

Read the rest of Jared’s story on his site, Lick the Fridge.

There wasn’t anything in the news about this one, but we think it ended OK. Per this message from SFMTA spokeswoman Kristen Holland:

…there was an incident on May 6 at 8:25 a.m. at 2nd and Folsom Streets involving a bus on the 10-Townsend route. The pedestrian, who evidently walked into the front door of the bus, was transported with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.

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Reader Ken Ackerman turned one of the funny tweets on @munidiaries into a New Yorker-style cartoon.

Via @fitfoxes:
OH on the 10: Not so suave guy: “What do you do in your free time?” Not havin’ it girl: “Hang out with my boyfriend.”

Oh. Snap.

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Bhautik has the deets on a memorable Muni ride this morning:

Get on the 10 this morning; going along and we pull up to a red light at 2nd and Folsom. The bus driver opens the doors to let people on and off, gets up out of her seat and announces to the bus “That’s it, I quit!”, and walks out. Stunned silence for a moment as she goes and drops some mail in a nearby postbox and gets back on chuckling and saying “..but I like a roof over my head better.”

Everyone laughs along and we all experience a +1 awesome start to the day. It might (allegedly) be the worst-dressed line on Muni but it’s definitely got some of the best drivers :)

Oh, to be present on some of these Muni rides. +1 awesome, indeed.

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The water cooler gossip happening this week on the Muni Diaries Twitter wires: What are the best- and worst-dressed Muni lines? We caught a few people on Twitter playing Fashion Police. @richdevin thinks the 1-California has to be the best-dressed. The jury’s out on the worst-dressed Muni line: @jnavin nominated the L, but @ginaespo tweeted that the riders on the 10-Townsend should be arrested for crimes against style.

We’ve featured fashionable Muni riders in the past, including some terrific photos of the fashion tribes of San Francisco. Is your line the best or worst dressed? Tell us about the fashionable people on your bus, or those who might deserve wrath from Joan Rivers.

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Via Questionable Skills, Ted McCagg brings us his hilarious illustration.

We’ve seen an uptick in tweets complaining about excessive and excessively loud phone talkers on Muni lately. What gives?

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NBC Bay Area has video from a Muni accident back in March that sent the bus’s only passenger to the hospital. The video shows the 10-Townsend driver with his head down starting a few moments before impact. Really, Muni driver?

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Update (8:25 p.m.): MTA says that the operators of the Muni vehicles were also taken to hospitals.

Update (7:10 p.m.): MTA reports that five people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and 10 were treated at the scene of the accident.

Update (6:26 p.m.): The Examiner reports that 13 were injured, and that an automobile was also involved.

Original post: SF Appeal has the story; unknown injured. MTA reports injuries, but number and nature are unknown as of yet. We’ll update this post when we get more info.

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Rush hour. Everyone’s tired. Everyone. Including the driver. But not the passengers.

I was on the 10-Townsend the other day coming home from Chinatown. Did the same ritual, boarded the bus, flashed my pass, found a seat, and we headed up the hill. At the same time, the back door was having a problem of closing and reopening itself.

At the same time, a couple more people got on at Stockton, and the bus started to get pretty noisy when it came to the mob of passengers mingling. Then, when the bus got to Mason, the back door started to open and close repeatedly without anyone stepping on it. Then, all of a sudden—–

Everything was dark and silent.

I looked around. Everyone seemed surprised and quiet as if someone had taken over the bus in a somewhat-deserted street with something that looked like a bus being the only thing visible. Fortunately, the bus I was on started up again and up Nob Hill the bus negotiated, and I got to my destination safely with a 12-Folsom bus following us!

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