Another day on the 38 05.14.09
I reluctantly got on the 38 inbound on Divisadero on my way to a very important final exam. A 38L was 7 minutes later but after weighing it out, I decided it wasn’t worth the wait. There was one wheelchaired man already on, a lady in a wheelchair had just gotten on, and the bus was extremely crowded, so already I was thinking I may have made the wrong choice.
As soon as the bus started moving, the lady in the wheelchair started screaming “HELP!! HELP!!! I’M NOT STRAPPED IN!!! HELP!!!” as though she was going to die. All of us standing in the front looked at each other not sure what to do. The bus driver stopped at Scott, and went back to help the lady, who even though the bus was stopped continued to scream.
In front of where I was standing was an old man, definitely in his 70s going on 80s, laughing his head off. I smiled politely, mildly freaked out by the whole thing. His eyes then darted to my wonderful quadruple-shot latte, and went “HEY! You better not spill that on me!” I politely replied, “I won’t.” He then, without any warning, went back to laughing his head off. Needless to say I was then even more spooked.
Purse burglary on 38L. Merry Xmas Eve! 12.24.08
Damned kids.
I wonder what they stole if it wasn’t her wallet or phone? Sounds like an EPIC FAIL burglary attempt to me.
Um, so yeah, don’t leave your purse open while you’re spacing out on the bus, especially if there are snotty teenagers on the bus with you. From extensive sociological study (i.e. staring passive-aggressively at them when they bother me), I find that when they’re not screaming at one another, at the bus driver, into their phones or all of the above, they’re eying your blank stare and swanky purse of grown-up goodies.
I had a theory that teenagers are pretty much the worst category of people in the world, and I haven’t been proven wrong just yet.
And if today’s San Francisco Examiner story about truancy is any indication, they best watch out for the narcs.
Loud and Proud 07.27.08
Even though we all know well and good that NextMuni is kind of a joke (as is txtmuni, which completely ignored my cries for help this morning and refused to tell me when my 2-Clement was coming until a half-hour later), I spied this nifty item at the 38/38L stop at Geary and Divisadero Friday, for buses headed downtown. I didn’t push the button, but somebody did, because it kept rattling off arrival times every few minutes and even told us when the bus was actually arriving.
Considering that one of my top gripes about Muni is how many buses don’t play the audio signals telling people what the next stop is, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
– Beth W.
Driver courtesies 06.29.08
I was on one of the Market Street buses a couple of weeks ago — the 71-Haight, I think — heading toward the Ferry Building. The bus was nearly empty and a couple of folks got off just as I hopped on. As soon as the bus doors closed, the driver turned to a young couple sitting in the elderly/disabled section and said, “Check your bags. The guy who was sitting next to you is a pickpocket. Let me know if he took anything and I’ll call the cops.”
She waited while they frantically checked their bags. Fortunately, nothing was taken and the bus wasn’t seriously delayed. But I liked that this driver was looking out for out-of-towners possibly distracted and dazzled by their unfamiliar environment.
It almost made up for the 38L driver yesterday who spent more time yelling at every single passenger than actually driving… - Beth W.
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