Muni rider Katie retells this odd encounter from last week:

I was on the 9x Friday, and a guy got on with a parrot on his shoulder around Market St. The parrot didn’t seem to be tied down, but it was very well-behaved and quietly stood on his owner’s shoulder. He was wearing a little red sweater. I got off at Broadway and Columbus, so I don’t know where the parrot (plus the pirate) was going, but it definitely made me smile as I surreptitiously took pictures.

Seen any funny animals (human or other) on Muni lately? Share stories and photos with the faithful readership of Muni Diaries.

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.

We finally got to the stop after the 101 when the bus driver decided to try to turn the bus on. It worked for a few seconds, then it died on us. So everyone had to get out and wait for the next bus, mind you I was running very late so this was not good to me, But luckily, another 9X arrived a few minutes later, so everyone hopped on this bus and I proceeded to go to the back. I found a seat in the rear of the bus, so I sat down only to find out that the girl in front of me was throwing up. Somehow she got her boyfriend to open the emergency window so she could puke out the window as the bus was going. I’m afraid to say she didn’t always make it outside the window. After moving a few seats away from them, I noticed that the floor had a liquid that was coming from the girl’s direction, Not knowing what it was I just kept my feet up. Eventually they got off and everyone avoided the area. I’m not sure what the Muni driver did about clean up, but every time I hop on the rear of a Muni bus, I look out to see if that seat is the one she threw up on.

More photos after the jump:

This story came to our attention via the Muni Diaries Twitter feed. That’s just one way to get your stories onto this site. You can also email us, or submit a Muni diary here.

Photos by Vincent Chavez

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

If you liked this Muni diary, you might like:

1. What to do on your commute
2. Is this what your morning commute looked like?
3. Ray of Hope on the Morning Commute

Getting on the 9X today at Balboa Park and moving to back, I noticed that a side window had been removed and placed on the seat next to it. The gentleman shown here greatly enjoyed this unusual situation and made full use of it, frequently spitting on the parked cars the bus was passing along Geneva Ave.

A short while after this picture was taken, a colleague joined him. Upon discovering that the window was occupying a perfectly good seat, without hesitation he picked it up and threw it out of the bus, then sat down to continue his rapport with his friend.

Also note the amount of trash on the floor, a usual sight on buses around the Balboa Park area.

————–

Got your own Muni photo or story? Share them here at Muni Diaries!

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.

Here we are on Powell just south of North Point on a Wednesday afternoon; I think we’re looking at a 9 or a 9x. And yes, it’s definitely getting towed.

So, what? Dead engine? Run out of gas? Flat tire(s)? Kind of embarrassing if any of those is the case, because a Muni hotel (parking lot/servicing spot) is less than a block from here. Also, this is the third or fourth stop from the start of the line. I think I speak for everyone when I say, “WTF?”

Obvious questions include: why’s it getting towed? Were people on this bus? Did a bus come to save the day? (SuperBus wasn’t that one in the background, if you were wondering). And was this a freak mechanical/electrical uh-oh or does this happen fairly regularly? Where’s Judson True when you need him?

– Tara

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.

I do walk by it quite a bit, and it always smells like an olfactory one-two of food garbage and piss. There is a garbage can nearby, and it is a Muni shed; so, months ago, I stored it in the Obvious folder of my brain and called it a day.

But now, we’re talking about now. And, now, up-close and personal, this thing smells horrible. Awful. Shit-awful, almost, but piss-awful is more like it. I sat in the shed for a second, until that rancid, nostril-filling smell of urine hit my nose. At first, it just smelled like a somewhat-dingy public bathroom. Then it smelled like a Port-a-Potty. You know, those really bad ones at beer or wine festivals that you wouldn’t be caught dead in, had it not been for the gallon of liquid now floating about your insides.

What’s mildly (perhaps) interesting about this encounter is how I went about dealing with it. Being a curious sort (or a glutton for punishment, depending on how you look at it), I looked high and low for a fresh puddle. But everywhere I looked — the seat I was sitting on, under the seats, behind the shed — was clean as a whistle. I still think it’s weird that a bus shelter frequented by tourists, apartment dwellers and some office-workers nearby smelled like the 16th and Mission BART station, but there you have it, I guess.

Now, someone is going to have to tell me if you’ve had this related dilemma, which also presented itself today in Pee-Pee Shed. What would you rather do?

1) Stand in the wind, with a windbreaker fleece thing on, and feel the unrefreshing bite of San Francisco July whip you repeatedly in the face…without the urine.

2) Stay in the warm shelter of the shed, but constantly move about in search of a microclimate within that allowed for shade and proper breathing air.

The 9x came pretty quickly amid this dilemma, so I didn’t have to dwell on it for too long. Good thing, too, since I’d probably still be alternating between the wind and the piss (cool book title?) had it showed up late.

- Tara

Tara Ramroop spends her days writing this, that and the other. She has never peed in a bus shelter, nor does she ever plan to. She, apparently, does look for urine puddles in bus shelters when she gets bored waiting for Muni.

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.

Legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen used to run what he called “Sight ‘ems” — interesting little oddities he (or one of his legmen) spotted wandering around the old town. Back in Caen’s day this wouldn’t have rated a mention, it being a more civilized burg, but in 2008 I found the scene jarring:

Three tourists, all women, riding a northbound 9x-Bayshore Express, and clearly lost. They didn’t speak any English (I think that was Portuguese I was hearing, but maybe it was … well, who cares?) and the bus driver spoke nothing but English. As they chattered away at the driver, laughing and waving a map under her nose while she crossed Market and headed up Kearny, I expected to hear some very colorful English indeed.

But no. Patiently, even tenderly, the driver went out of her way to try and help. Fortunately, “hotel” is a word that leaps a lot of language barriers. Through the gesticulating and the laughter and the repeated use of the word, it eventually dawned upon the driver that these women, who happened to be blocking the aisle with several pieces of luggage, were trying to find their hotel.

Somewhere, somehow the name of a hotel was produced, along with a phone number. After swinging the bus onto Columbus Avenue, the driver flipped open her cellphone, called the hotel and found out exactly where on Lombard Street the women wanted to go. (It didn’t involve a transfer, praise the lord.)

It was a nice scene. In a city growing harder and colder each year, these little bits of civility are worth savoring.

The only thing that would have made it nicer is if the driver had pulled over while she was doing all of this.

– Tony

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.

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.

Take it away, Mr. Long.

Share this Muni Diaries post

• 

No related posts.