Meaghan Mitchell on trauma at a 22-Fillmore stop and the long road to forgiveness

We’re back on the storytelling tip with San Francisco native and San Francisco Standard journalist Meaghan Mitchell—first at Muni Diaries Live in April, and now on the podcast. Meaghan shared a life-changing experience from her youth at a 22-Fillmore stop that touches on summer love, physical trauma, her identity as a Black woman, and more.

We’ve long been proud of the fact that Muni Diaries stories range from sweet and quirky, to weird and funny, to powerful and deeply personal. This is no exception, as we were invited to lean into the vulnerable and, at times, uncomfortable story with Meaghan as she shared with us that night.

tw: violence against women

Listen to her story:

You can also watch the story below:

Meaghan had our tear ducts working a few years ago, when she told a different story at Muni Diaries Live about an especially rough day at school, playing hooky as a result, and the way Muni featured prominently—and personally—into the experience.

Keep up with Meaghan on Twitter @meaghan_m, and send any and all flavors of transit stories or tales of city life to munidiaries.sf@gmail.com or @munidiaries on all the socials.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Katie Havercamp, LeBron James (the cat) just can’t quit SF

Leaving San Francisco for parts north was no small decision for Katie Havercamp, mom of a Muni-riding cat named LeBron James, musician, and bigtime local transit and local history buff. Her experience runs the gamut of grief stages, but, thankfully for her and all of us, never settles into acceptance.

Listen to her story:

Also, nobody loves the Boat Tram more than this lady, as this story makes abundantly clear.

You can also watch the story below:

Thank you to Katie for sharing her story, thank you to LeBron for being a fantastic feline transit ambassador, and thank you San Francisco for that magnetic pull that keeps drawing people back in.

Keep up with Katie and LeBron @goat_of_cats, and join us in the wayback machine to when Katie and her band, Mesquite and Mustard, performed at Muni Diaries Live in 2015.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Mr. Miller’s wild Muni ride

I find it stressful being the navigator in a regular car, clarifying GPS-delayed directions from the tiny machine—is it the next turn or is it the next next turn? I might as well be guiding us through the solar system.

Now imagine trying to do the same for a bus, driving through San Francisco, with strangers who definitely aren’t on a fun road trip with you.

Well, imagine no more because it happened to Hayden Miller, who joined the Muni Diaries Live stage for the first time (and hopefully not the last) in April 2022. He might be in high school, but his expertise was known to a n00b Muni operator, who leaned on that knowhow for driving directions (seriously). All ended up in some…uncharted territory.

Listen to (or watch on the ol’ Muni Diaries YouTube) Hayden’s story:

Catch Hayden’s transit-oriented adventures on Twitter @HaydenM16 or his public comments at an SFMTA Board meeting near you.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Meet the Muni operator who went viral

It’s been a while since we brought you a tale from the stage, so we are extra thrilled to share a podcast episode featuring a story from Muni Diaries Live on April 7, 2022. Today’s episode features Muni operator (and Muni Haiku Battle alum) MC “Mack” Allen live from Rickshaw Stop, our first show back after our long pandemic winter.

We knew him from the Twitters as a transit fan and poet, but his love for the city and its transit system went above and beyond when he decided to become a Muni operator during the pandemic.

He jumped through many hoops to become a Muni operator (we think you’ll really enjoy the behind-the-scenes look into the journey), but MC had no idea what was yet to come. In mere weeks, he’d be briefing the entire Twitter universe about the ins and outs of driving Muni via a viral thread about the blockbuster movie, Shang-Chi. His star rising, SFGate called him the most famous bus driver in San Francisco, and we’re proud to have known him when.

Listen to (or watch!) MC’s story:

Mc is dripping with San Francisco pride and it’s hard not to get caught up in his hella local wave. Follow MC and his bus operator pursuits on Twitter @that_mc.

Photo by Amanda Roosa. Video by Maya Curry.

Two riders enter, one rider leaves: it’s the Muni Haiku Battle!

If you’ve ever been to Muni Diaries Live, you know that we end each show with a “Muni Haiku Battle” where two poets battle in three rounds of poetry throw down. After a two-year pandemic hiatus from the stage, we are bringing the live show –– and the Muni Haiku Battle –– back on April 7, at the Rickshaw Stop!

On this week’s podcast, we bring you the battle between comedian Wonder Dave and champion Mc Allen. Three lucky audience members were chosen randomly to vote for the winner, but the crowd behind them didn’t shy away from trying to influence their votes.

Listen to the battle here (and find out who will return to the stage to defend his title):

We can’t wait to bring the next battle to you live on stage!

Muni Diaries Live!

Tickets
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Doors: 6 p.m. Show: 7 p.m.

The Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell Street, San Francisco

Photo by Amanda Roosa

San Francisco Diaries: Finding the silver lining in teaching on Zoom

Educator Kelly Gregor Hartlaub had been a librarian for some time until the pandemic hit, until she was suddenly called back to frontline classroom teaching, on Zoom, for distance learning. Her first task as a Zoom teacher? Sex education. Yikes.

But that wasn’t even the hardest part. In today’s podcast episode, Kelly shares the emotional, mental, and practical challenges of distance learning, how she and fellow teachers kept going, and how an English-learning student having an especially hard time helped her in kind.

Listen to Kelly’s story:

We met Kelly a few years back, and here she is in the photo above (third from left), about to dig into a delicious burrito with some of San Francisco’s bloggerati (including Burrito Justice, Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight from The San Francisco Chronicle and the Total SF project, and yours truly).

We’re always looking for stories about how San Francisco has changed and transformed you, whether it happened on Muni or off. 

If you’ve been inspired by a story on our podcast or gone to one of our storytelling shows and imagined yourself on stage, we are here to help! Please email us your story idea at munidiaries.sf@gmail.com, or tag us @munidiaries on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

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