Teaching a kid a lesson on Muni
Photo by Bennett Honson
Something about riding the bus gives you that “it takes a village” feeling. When a rider saw a kid on the bus doing something he shouldn’t be doing, he took matters into his own hands. Rider Ben R. sent us this story.
I was riding the 71 outbound just past Market at Haight and Gough when an argument breaks out right next me between a kid wearing a gray jacket, Vans hat, and carrying a skateboard, and a man standing near him. The man says that he saw the kid fiddling with a injection needle while sitting in the stairwell. He starts berating the kid to get off the bus if he’s going to use needles. The rest of the bus is silent. The man, a good Samaritan at this point, tells the kid that he’s endangering others, as well as himself, by pulling out his drug needle on the Muni bus.
The Samaritan also shares that he is a former needle user, and the kid should get off the bus before the cops come and arrest him. The Muni driver let the bus sit there for nearly three minutes during the incident, but no one else stepped up or complained. The kid eventually stood up and got off the bus just as another passenger started dialing 911. The bus closed its doors and drove away to cheers from the remaining passengers.
Ben recorded the man giving the kid a piece of his mind. Turn the volume down if you’re at work. The good Samaritan sure gave the kid an earful and then some.
Ben’s recording of the “good Samaritan”: “Get off this bus!”
What would you do if you were there? Would you say something to the kid?
I wish I could say I’d have said something, but while I might have added my voice, there’s no way I would have been the first. 🙁
Great story! What do you want to bet that the cameras that are supposed to record this kind of stuff weren’t working?
Come to think of it, when was the last time you heard of any undercover officers making a difference on MUNI?
I have seen some older people chastising younger folks for not giving up a seat. I think the ‘respect your elder’ thing works quite nicely on the bus.
How do we know the kid isn’t a diabetic?
He could’ve said as much?
Not to mention the fact that it still would’ve been dangerous to be on a moving bus wielding a needle, no matter what was in it.