wisdom on the 49

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I was on a 49-Van Ness yesterday evening, as the results for several East Coast states were coming in and Election Day was gearing up for the good stuff.

First, I listened to a man chatting with someone on the phone, who gave the most recent play-by-play results he had been watching for all day. He then demanded a free lunch if Obama reached 350 electoral votes. Results right now (9 a.m. on Thursday) show he’s at 349, with no major network yet calling North Carolina for the president-elect.

Then two boys got on with their moms. They were buddies, clearly, talking about school and their Halloween costumes, particularly which Halloween superstore had the best Batman costume.

Boy 1 was Hispanic, and said he lives wayyy down the 49, meaning he probably lives in the Excelsior, or somewhere else near City College on the south side of town. He had a few things to say about Tuesday’s election.

Boy 1: Everyone gets to vote today. Where are you from?

Boy 2: Los Angeles.

Boy 1: Oh. That’s near Mexico, right?

Boy 2: Yeah, kind of.

Boy 1: Well, I’m from Mexico, and McCain wants us to leave. He wants all the Mexicans to leave and go back to Mexico. But Obama wants us to stay.

Make of it what you will.

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Prop. P

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Okay, this one is a no-brainer to me, but I’d like to open it up, if anyone feels like talking about it.

Proposition P will be on the ballot (along with 21 other measures) next week (or now, for those of you who are voting early). It proposes changing the rules and responsibilities of the S.F. Transportation Authority Board.

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A fitting tribute

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The Gus Van Sant movie Milk premiered here last night. It chronicles the life and times of slain S.F. Supervisor Harvey Milk, who tirelessly advocated for gay rights and other community issues, including public transit. He was thanked for all that hard work with scores of adoring fans across the country, broken barriers to equality, and five bullets in his body, courtesy of then-Supervisor Dan White.

In a tribute to Milk, the San Francisco Municipal Railway has dedicated one of its cars as a moving tribute to the supervisor, who was killed almost exactly 30 years ago. You can read the SFGate story here.

Here’s my favorite quote, which is most relevant to this site:

“He was pushing for a better Muni at a time when no one else really was in City Hall.”
-Rick Laubscher, president of the nonprofit Market Street Railway.

I complain to no end about the F, as a commuter, because it was a good idea that was/is poorly executed. But as I’ve noted before, they are charming little pieces of San Francisco history. If more and more people, including tourists, ride this memorial car and get a hint of what Milk did for our city 30 years ago, then I’d say the investment was a good one. Thanks, Muni.

Tara Ramroop can’t wait to see Milk when it comes out for all us regular people. She also hopes that the district elections bring more inspired, tireless public servants to the SF Board of Supervisors.

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