Muni Diaries

Muni rider Jessica tells the following tale:

I’m a usual N Judah rider to and from work during the week. However, one night last week I decided to go to a spin class at a different gym on Van Ness, thus leaving me 1 of few options by taking the 49 to get back home afterwards.

Just the thought of riding this bus at night made me incredibly paranoid. I found myself constantly checking around for the crazy man who stabbed the 11yo boy last week. Despite the fact that I knew the driver would not attempt to save my life in any dangerous/traumatic/life-threatening situation, I decided to sit near the front for my own contentment. During my initial scan of the people around me I noticed a blind man seated with a service dog. He had his cell phone in his hand and was sitting patiently (and probably also hoping he could get the hell off this bus as soon as possible).

There was a lady sitting perpendicular to him (in those single seats that always get first dibs since they isolate riders from sitting next to any creeps). She was rocking a sweet 80s-esque ponytail with sweatband and smelled like she had just bathed in steak fajitas. She noticed the blind guy had a cell phone and asked him if she could use it.

He said “well I’m a nice guy, but I don’t usually lend out my phone. Is it an absolute emergency?”

“Yeah,” she said lethargically.

I could tell he really didn’t want to let her use the phone, but now felt obligated and handed it over. At first, I thought she was going to try to steal it from him because he was blind. Instead she dialed a number and started talking in Spanish to the person on the other end. I speak Spanish and was trying to hear what she was saying about this emergency, but she was mumbling so much that I couldn’t understand. She continued chatting (yes, just chatting away) about her so-called emergency the entire ride. I was really tempted to go over to her and tell her how rude this was- what if he has pre-paid minutes! The guy did you a favor lady, don’t take complete advantage of him!

The blind guy looked miserable and it was obvious that he regretted his decision to be a nice guy. I was secretly hoping he would reprimand on this chick and snatch his phone back, but I’ll never know. About 7 minutes into her emergency phone call (I kid you not!) I had to get off at my stop. I don’t know how it all ended, but I would like to think that the dog pissed on her feet or something comparably satisfying.

Seen anyone else totally disregard all social norms and take advantage of another rider? If you’ve got any kind of Muni story to tell, this is the place: muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com