Too Much Sex, Read Your Bible 09.22.09
Photo by Flickr user frantikgirl
I think the old adage about full moons bringing the crazies out is not true in San Francisco — I think the heat brings them out. So this morning’s sunny skies meant something good would be happening on the 45.
Once we dropped off all the Marina girls and the old ladies on Market Street and headed toward SOMA I noticed what appeared to be a late middle-aged man with a cane and a bible. Now, in most places, a bible is not necessarily a sign that you’re crazy, but on Muni a bible might as well be a straitjacket. Almost immediately he starts yelling really loudly, spit flying.
“Read your bibles, you’re all going to hell. Too much sex, read your bible. Only Jesus will survive the tsunami and save you from hell, it’s in the bible. Stop gay marriage, read your bible. Your generation is going to hell, read the bible.”
Most of the bus just ignores Angry Bible Guy, but this woman (who didn’t look quite all there) gets up and gets right in his face yelling, “Who are you to be telling us to read the bible, maybe you’re going to hell.”
Angry Bible Guy responds, “Act like a woman, read the bible.”
To which she tells him, “Act like a man, I bet you have a small pecker.”
Then they just start simultaneously screaming at one another until you can’t understand anything but him screaming, “Read your bible” and her imitating an ape with sound effects and a little ape dance.
Finally, the bus driver comes over the loud speaker, “Sir, Lady, you need to keep it down. Pipe down back there.” The screaming continued as I got off the bus. Oh, Lord, lease don’t let it get much hotter, I may have to take a cab.
Revenge of the Nerds 07.14.09
Photo by Flickr user bayat
I braved the crowds of tourists and shoppers in Union Square to take advantage of the July 4th holiday sales and scored a terrific deal on a new comforter. I live fairly close to downtown SF and try to walk everywhere I can within reason but catching the 45 Union back home seemed reasonable now that I was lugging this large, unwieldy bag around with me. I walked a few blocks to 3rd and Market to catch the bus, ensuring that I’d get on before the crowds destined for Chinatown boarded. I snagged the perfect seat in the last row of double seats before the final row along the back, with plenty of legroom for me to balance my bedding-bag on my feet in front of me.
Sure enough, the bus started to fill up at the very next stop. One of the passengers towered above the usual contingent of Asian women with produce bags, a tall white guy who lumbered towards the back, glassy-eyed, open-mouthed, his significant gut leading the way. My Muni-attuned spidey senses were tingling—something about this guy was a bit off. He carried himself with the awkward air of those who don’t have a good grasp on the rules of social interaction. (His sci-fi convention-style t-shirt blaring “NEXT STOP: MARS!” helped complete the impression.) As he surveyed the open seats I silently projected my intentions. Don’t you f*ing sit here, dude. Don’t even think about it. Swayed by my venomous mental force-field (or more likely by the expanse of open seats along the back row), he plunked himself down behind me. He immediately started questioning one of the people seated by the windows about an item he carried, further confirming my snap assessment that this guy did not observe the Rule of the Bus.
Driver Smoke Breaks 06.23.09
The following came to us from Matt Baume, the man behind the Muni Alerts Twitter account, among other things he’s spearheaded.
I took this photo at the end of the 41 and 45 lines, where drivers take breaks after a run. One driver is smoking. She doesn’t have a driver number on her uniform.
This raises a tough question. Smoking at transit stops is illegal in SF — Muni maps spell out the exact code that prohibits it — but what are drivers supposed to do if they’re addicted to nicotine? Where are they supposed to go to smoke on their break?
This lady seemed like a nice person but her smoke was stinking up the whole bus stop. I don’t know what the solution is, aside from firing smokers. I guess you could argue that smokers are unfit to drive buses, since they’ve chosen a habit that adversely affects their ability to do their job legally. But that also seems pretty harsh.
— Matt Baume
What do you think? Sound off in the comments section.
What are your feelings about the Central Subway project? 05.09.09
Maybe you live along the existing T-Third route and would like to see the line extended farther north. Maybe you live in Chinatown, and would love an easier way than the 30 or 45 to hop over to SOMA or Mission Bay. Maybe you don’t live in either area, and are concerned about the costs and/or environmental impacts inherent in this estimated $1.57 billion, massive-construction project. Or maybe you’re just a transit geek, like us, and love all things rail.
Give Rachel Gordon’s post on the City Insider a quick read, and let us know your thoughts about the Central Subway project.
Does causing a ruckus count as a sin? 09.15.08
On the same 45-Stockton on Monday, the Muni driver, God bless her soul, ordered everybody off the bus around Brannan and Fourth. That just happened to be my stop. Reason for the wholesale unloading? Neither the driver nor the passengers could stomach listening to some dude with a cane scream at us anymore about our “sins that you should repent for.”
- David
Memoir of Racist Dude on #45 09.11.08
Tuesday morning in North Beach. I have a bad vibe that the 45-Stockton is gonna be sardine city. A big crowd is already waiting at Columbus and Stockton for the morning commute down Stockton, over Market, along Fourth and to Brannan and beyond.
It was sardine city alright. Some joker standing near me, carrying a Barack Obama doll, is starting to lose it as local Asians along the Chinatown route squeeze into the matriculated bus and loudly speak in dialects unrecognizable to me. The racist white dude on 45 utters for all to hear: “That’s why I support birth control and nuclear war.” I was thinking: What a racist jackass. I kept my mouth shut, so as not to create a nuclear incident on a packed bus. However, I wanted to ask the guy, “If everybody practiced birth control, who would you kill with nuclear arms?”
- David
Next stop, Washington Square? 06.27.08
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s definitely an oncoming train. The question is, is it a good thing for North Beach or not?
Locals, at least those who are members of the District 3 Democratic Club, seemed divided on the subject of the Central Subway, which was the featured topic at Thursday night’s special meeting of the D3DC at the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center. A well-chosen panel — representing both Muni (or, if you must, MTA) and grassroots interests — tossed the subject around, both among themselves and with the lively audience.
If you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years, the Central Subway (known sarcastically to its detractors as the Rose Pak Memorial Tunnel) is Muni’s planned extension of the T-Third rail line across Market Street and up Stockton into the very belly of Chinatown.
North Beach Examiner on Proposed Muni Changes Afoot in North Beach 06.06.08
The Examiner takes a close look at the proposed cuts on a couple of linnes with paltry ridership.
A little teaser from the story:
These cuts are two of many proposals being studied by Muni as part of its Transit Effectiveness Project, which, if implemented, would result in the most comprehensive bus rerouting done in my memory. And I’ve been here a long time. There isn’t a single line passing through or near North Beach (save the cable cars) that wouldn’t be affected in some way.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are on sale 
