Tag: 49-Van Ness

Spontaneous Guitar Lessons on the 49

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Life on the J
Photo by Flickr user nuzz

It was pretty interesting when I was taking the 49 home from the Mission the other day. There was this kid playing the Tenor. Then, this guy gets on the bus at 24th with a guitar, and soon notices the teenager playing the tenor. He looks, and the guy who is playing the tenor smiles. They chat, although there’s a language barrier between them, one who speaks little English (the one with the guitar) and the one who speaks no Spanish (the one who has the tenor).

They talk a little, and they play a mini duet by the time we get to 16th. Some lady eating a Fruit & Yogurt Parfait watches them play, as well as some other people on the bus.

The guy with the guitar gets off at Sutter with his other pal sitting opposite to him, opposite of the back door where the kid was playing. He gets off later. Don’t know where. Don’t care. But it’s interesting to see a teenager teaching someone to play and getting some fun out of it.

Send us your observations of poignancy on Muni, and anything else you feel like sharing.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni Tags:

Things That Do Not Fit Under Muni Seats

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having fun with the shopping cart

Maybe I haven’t seen everything about Muni. Standing on the sidewalk at Van Ness and McAllister, last Friday at about 5:30 p.m., I had to pinch myself to make sure I was seeing right. A guy was getting on the rear most door of a Muni bus (illegally of course), struggling with three things: two large duffle type bags and (!) a regular size grocery store cart.

Yes, a shopping cart one would use at Safeway! Amazingly he got it on – all of it. After the bit of work he did, I noticed an inspector flailing his arms as he tried to make his way down the now crowded bus, yelling “no, no, no, you can’t…”. The man obliged by tossing the cart out the same back door right onto the middle of the bus zone on the street.

I was so in awe of the scene I didn’t even remember I had my camera with me and didn’t take a picture 🙁

If you find yourself witness to odd boardings, or have any other Muni stories to tell, tell it here.

Photo by Flickr user jpockele.

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs Tags: ,

Brownie-town on the 49

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brownie

I ride the 49 every day to get home, and so do a lot of terrible teenagers (redundant?) who attend Balboa Galileo High School on Van Ness and Bay. At best, they’re usually just screaming about this, that and the other, possibly hoping their volume will increase their level of importance on the bus. There’s often a non-teenage screamer on the bus and a vivid assortment of rude, pleasant, happy, friendly and too-friendly people also, just to add some color to my little cross-town line.

Because the 49 does cross town, I try to understand when it’s mildly gross. A bag of smashed chips at your feet here, a little pile of sunflower seeds there. But I draw the line at what looks like real effort to get moist foodstuffs caked on the bus. For example, someone had to TRY to get this brownie on the window. Someone had to take it out of their bag, out of its wrapper, then purposefully smear it on the window in such a way that it sticks.

I take it personally also because this happened to be next to my favorite seat on the bus (along that single-seat row, on the left, in the back). Maybe tomorrow I’ll find a plate of eggs or something.

Sure that’s a brownie? Send us your tales of suspicious items found on the bus, or any other worthy tales.

Photo by Flickr user Mitsooko

The photo above was taken by the author and pertains to the incident mentioned in this post. It arrived at MDHQ a tad late. Apologies.

Category: diaries, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags: ,

Don’t Do My Beloved 49 That Way

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smokeshopEverything was going more or less as we had planned. We had a short wait at 20th and Mission, nothing out of the ordinary. Our inbound 49 arrived, and with ample seating. We plopped down on the back row, Tara and I, sitting on and surrounded by so much tagging, I remarked that it was so hideous, it almost came back to beautiful (the so-called Saturn effect). Sadly, I didn’t take a photo.

All the windows were closed, which didn’t sit well with my needs as an oxygen-consuming being. I cracked the one nearest me a subtle 1.5 inches. All was well.

(An odd interlude, if I may — and because I don’t feel like writing it out, I point you to this Muni Diaries Twitter update.)

It was the ride back to the Mission, again on the 49, that has me writing this diary on an otherwise lovely, dreary Sunday morning.

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Category: diaries, reflection, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags:

Unintended Consequences on the 49

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munilift1

Submitted by Muni rider Erich

The 49. Inbound at 8:45. The bus makes its stop and this guy in wheelchair asks to get off. The driver is kind enough to push him toward the lift but the guy starts bitching him out. He lets the guy go on his own and the guy makes it to the lift. He then proceeds to fuck around in the lift and flip his chair, wedging it in the railing. The bus driver had to stop the bus and call an inspector so they wouldn’t get sued. We walked from there. The guy was still bitching.

If you’ve been stuck, had to walk, or have any other tales from Muni or BART, send it to us.

Category: diaries, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags: ,
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