Fog City Notes

Bus Report #478

2009-12-21T10:40:00.001-08:00

Ah, the week before Christmas, when the buses are empty and quiet and almost a joy to ride.
Except this morning on the 22, when I unfortunately sat down in a window seat next to a very greasy, smelly, horrifically nasty, probably recently vacated by someone from a nightmare seat.
It took a few minutes for me to notice how gross it was. I opened several windows but it didn't help. I looked around to see who smelled so bad, but there was no one nearby.
Finally, I moved to sit behind a girl in matching white bulky knit hat and scarf, who held a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. The wisps of steam wafted back towards me and her coffee smelled much, much better than the bus did.

Unrelated - Check out the group photo exhibit at Blush by the CALIBER folks. I went Thursday night to say hi and check out the art. I plan to go again when it's less crowded to take some more time to look at their great photos. Great show, guys. Nice to meet those of you I haven't met before.

Bus Report #477

2009-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

The rain was really coming down this morning, but I only got a little wet, and that was on the bus. The usual culprit on Muni on a rainy day: people shaking out their umbrellas with no regard to anyone else. Ah, well.
I rode down to Fillmore in relative silence, listening to a sad episode of This American Life. At Fillmore I stood under the overhang with a woman who was reading a paperback book, the kindly older nurse and a couple of the annoying and pushy construction guys (who shook off their umbrellas right next to me, no shocker there!)
The bus came and the driver pulled up right in front of me. I got in and was happy to see Carmen in our usual seat, for the second morning in a row.
"Que tal?" she asked me, as we both hurriedly put away our headphones.
We chatted and she said she was glad her bus was late this morning so that we could sit and talk with each other. I was glad, too. It was warm in the bus even though the floors were wet and everyone looked bedraggled and half-drowned. Carmen got off at her usual stop and I rode the rest of the way down 16th to work.

Bus Report #476

2009-12-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Dare I say that I had a lovely commute this afternoon on the 19 Polk? Well, I did.
I got on at my usual stop, sat in the back with a few heavily bundled, quiet people. At Market, a man with a cane got on and settled in to the seat across from me.
"Merry Christmas," he said.
I smiled and said, "You too, sir."
He grinned. "Lemme ask you something," he began. "You seen these people in flip flops walking around?"
"Actually, I have," I said, still smiling. "This morning there was a girl in flip flops on my bus."
"Now, I can tell you know what I'm sayin'," he said. "It's the winter time, these people should be hibernatin' til spring. Then they can get up, take off a few pounds, put on them flip flops."
I nodded in agreement.
"I tell ya," he said, shaking his head. "I'm just thankin' god he let another black man make it to 49 years. You done your Christmas shopping yet?" he asked me.
"Not really," I said. No need to explain I'm Jewish. "I got a few small things for my family but that's it."
"Yeah I hear ya," he said. "You could wait til the after Christmas sales, get yourself some real bargains."
A young couple got on at the Asian Museum stop. The man had a Macy's bag with a Santa Mickey Mouse on the side of it. My new friend looked at the bag, said, "You done your shopping for the baby, now?"
The young couple smiled. The boyfriend said, "Naw, the baby shopping's been done. This is a little something for ME." he laughed. His girlfriend smiled and went back to playing a game on her phone.
We pulled in to the O'Farrell Street stop. My friend stood up slowly, leaning on his cane. "You take care of that little baby," he told the couple. Then he looked at me and said, "You have a good night young lady."
"You too, sir," I said.

The automated announcement about service changes came on. The girlfriend in the couple listened to the Spanish version and then said, "Ese-Eme-Tay-Ah." I looked up at her and smiled. She blushed. "Trying to learn the Spanish," she said.
I said, "Now we have to learn the Chinese version, then we'll be awesome," and I winked.

Later, I waited for a 1 California and fiddled with my ancient headphones, adjusting the foam parts, which were hanging on to the ear pieces, but just barely. I put on an album I'd been thinking of today, and while I stood in the bus stop I thought, I know why we have rib cages, it's to keep our hearts from leaping out of our chests. The music was just that good, just that heartbreaking. I stared out the window of my bus, letting the songs transport me back in time, while a crazy man stood a few rows behind me ranting and raving.

When I got out the bus I turned to look back at it, and I caught eyes with a man sitting near the door. He smiled at me, I smiled back, it was a nice yet fleeting moment, and I felt energized and good.

Bus Report #475

2009-12-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Cold weather edition

Where to start? I took a lot of buses today, and the one theme running across all the lines was the cold. People were bundled up in all their winter clothes, some people better than others.
One little girl wore knee high boots and a thick winter coat with a hat pulled down over her ears. But she was also wearing a short skirt and tights.
The teens who go to Catholic school somewhere in Noe Valley all had jeans on under their school uniform skirts.
On my 22 this morning, the Postal Service guys had on regulation parkas and woolly hats.

I took a 10 Townsend downtown for lunch. The new route isn't bad, but sadly won't work that well for me to take it home in the afternoons. My bus was pretty empty except for a man who sat in front of me who smelled like rotten food. I cracked the window open.

This afternoon my 22 was full but quiet. My seat mate, a heavyset woman in a puffy coat, took up a lot of the seat but I didn't mind, as she was very warm and kept me warm, too, whether she wanted to or not. She spent the whole ride on the phone with Kaiser, talking in Spanish, trying to reschedule a doctor's appointment. I didn't need to know all about her medical needs. Some things you should do at home.

A flower vendor got on at Mission and sat across from me. He had a crate full of bouquets of carnations. The flowers were really vibrant and while I don't usually go for carnations, I thought about buying some.
He must have been tired, because he soon fell asleep. He leaned forward over his crate, occasionally stirring to touch the flowers, before falling asleep again.
He bolted awake at Hayes and tried to scramble out of the bus, but in his haste he kicked over his flowers and fell down on his knees. A boy standing in the step well helped him up and he got out.

Slight Muni fail at Geary and Fillmore, where three packed packed buses showed up at the same time, two 38Ls and a 38. The 38 said it was going to Ocean Beach. Isn't that one of the lines that was terminated, or am I wrong?

I stood in the bus shelter clutching a bulky tote bag holding a Wild Side Snuggie (a birthday present from a friend, not something I would have bought, thanks, GJ!) and a huge plastic container I was taking home from work. I finally got on the back of the crowded 38, and sat next to a smelly man who, unfortunately, also gets out at my stop. Cringe.

Walked home as fast as I could and was greeted by the heat blowing full blast when I went inside.

Lovely.

Bus Report #474

2009-12-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

How is everyone dealing with the Muni changes? I know I am mourning the loss of the 4-Sutter (a second choice bus for me when the 2 is late), the shortened route of the 2-Clement and the 10-Townsend (well, its actually got a longer route, but not in the direction that I need.)
This weekend I noticed new recordings on the 33, 21, 38 and 22 (new stop announcements, mostly, and the recorded-in-three-languages-Dec-5-changes-message).
I am very excited for increased service on the 38L and the 44 O'Shaughnessy. Very, very excited.

Last week I rode the 22 with Carmen, and we caught up on the holiday happenings.
The eighties woman was on my 22 Tuesday morning. She is crazy, and I don't just mean her misguided fashion. She talks to herself, a lot.
An elderly woman who I used to see every morning while waiting for the bus was actually on my bus the other day. She beamed at me and greeted me like an old long lost friend. It was very sweet.

This morning my 22 Fillmore came off the wires in front of the Potrero Center. We sat there ten minutes before I got up and started walking. Of course, the bus finally started to move after I'd walked a block. Frustrating!

The Carmen Banana mural is back on the side of the natural grocery in the Lower Haight, and that makes me smile.

Anyone seen any good Christmas decorations yet? There is a building on Hermann with a lot of lights, and I saw a big plastic Santa somewhere along 16th, but that's about it so far.

Bus Report #473

2009-11-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

I know I've been slacking. Let's blame National Novel Writing Month, and leave it at that.
Not much going on with my commutes lately. The usual gang of loud kids, regulars, and crazy people of varying degrees.

This morning there was a crazy bible thumper on my 22 Fillmore. No, really, and nothing against decent church-going folk, but this guy was having a very interesting silent conversation with himself, gesticulating (in what actually looked like very deliberate, choreographed motions) to the people sitting across from him, the people sitting back where I was sitting, and to himself. He crossed himself in the manner of old Italian priests from horror films, very seriously, with lots of looping hand gestures.
And then there was the bible.
He had a black regular book-size bible in his left hand. He would tap it on his shoulders, his head, his thigh, the seat beside him, sometimes twisting his arm in uncomfortable-looking ways just to get a good thump out of it.
No one sat near him.

Yesterday morning on my way to the bus stop I passed a pile of trash on the side of the street. An old foosball (sp?) table was balanced on its side next to a pile of old pots and pans.
My heart leapt when I saw the handle of a small cast iron pan (readers may remember some older posts where I travel on the 38 with a cast iron I found on top of a trash can or the time I bought a cast iron at Community Thrift and took it on BART) peering out from under a scorched non-stick pan. Oh but I wanted that pan! I almost took it, too, before realizing I would have to carry it all the way to work and back home, and the bus was fast approaching. I hope someone else managed to scavenge it before the garbage truck came. Sigh.

Bus Report #472

2009-11-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Random observations.

Friday night - The Halloween revelers were already out in force. Strange, but in this city it is so hard to tell who is in costume and who is in their everyday wear. Was the guy in the BERKELEY sweatshirt a Berkeley student, or was he dressed up as one? Was the harried-looking tranny just on her way home from a tough day at work, or was she really just a man in a dress and messy wig? We'll never know.

This morning - The time change makes it sunny when I leave the house and I am not used to it, yet. My 38L was full. Everyone was quiet, either staring off into space or fiddling with an igadget. The woman sitting next to me drank hot tea out of a jam jar. The woman across from me lost her grip on her hot pink travel mug and it fell on the floor and rolled to my feet. I picked it up and handed it back to her, and she nodded at me in thanks.

At Fillmore I waited with a guy wearing a White Glove Services T-shirt, and I wondered what kind of high-end furniture he would be moving today. We got on the 22 and I sat alone, up against the window. After a while, the bus filled up with teenagers on their way to Mission High.

The kid sitting in front of me has always been a curiosity to me. He acts like he's crazy half the time, talking to himself, laughing for no reason, and the other half of the time he is making eyes at the girls. He actually bats his eyes at them and presses his lips together, and they seem to like it. He told my seatmate, another teenager, about a conversation he had with his toddler son.

For the past two days, the same woman has been getting out at Dolores. She has the same metallic blue hot cup from a cafe in Austin, TX that I do. Seeing someone else clutching that cup jolted me, and when I got to work yesterday I immediately checked to see if the cup was still in my drawer. It was. What an odd coincidence. The cup was a gift from a friend who used to live in Austin, and I have never been in the cafe before.

In front of the Roxie a youngish man with great, thick curly hair readjusted his duffel bag and when he did, his T-shirt rode up exposing his back tattoo. I didn't get a good look but it was small, with fine black lines. It looked good against his milky-coffee-colored skin.

Valencia Street is still all torn up. In the window at Abandoned Planet Books, the lights twinkled like the stars I rarely see in my neighborhood.

Muni Diaries Under The Influence - Awesome!

2009-10-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Muni Diaries for such a fun night and thanks to everyone who showed up! Great costumes and attitudes all around. All the acts were great. It was especially great to meet people like Julie, the brains behind I Live Here: SF.
Thanks again, Muni Diaries, hope we meet again soon.

Meanwhile, here is a photo of my Muni-themed cupcakes I made in honor of the night...

Muni Diaries Under The Influence, This Friday!

2009-10-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Did you come to the fun Muni Diaries event in June? Did you have the best time ever? Did you miss the event and wish you hadn't? Well, either way you are in luck.
This Friday, Oct. 30 at the Make Out Room Muni Diaries is doing it again.
Here are the details, but suffice it to say we will have a fabulous time and you will leave the event happier than you arrived.
I hope to read something funny and I think I might bring some cupcakes (first come first served, of course!) for us to enjoy.
See you then? I hope so!
Thanks Muni Diaries. Fog City Notes thinks you're cute and dreamy.

Bus Report #471

2009-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

On the 44 O'Shaughnessy yesterday afternoon, I saw one of the creepiest interactions I've seen on Muni and there was nothing I could do about it.
A girl got on at Lincoln and 9th, a college student, I guessed. She was very drunk and maybe on something, and she stumbled down the aisle and finally landed in the lap of an open-mouthed young man who did not seem to mind. He looked pretty average: early 20s, baggy clothes, sideways baseball cap for an out of state team.
The girl had long wavy hair, a tank top, shorts and mid-calf-high cowboy boots. She had dime-shaped bruises on her legs. I got the feeling she had been up all night and was heading home to one of the USF dorms in my neighborhood.
She flirted with the open-mouthed boy and he flirted back, put his arm around her shoulder and gave her his igadget to fool with. He brought his face close to hers and talked to her in a low voice. She kissed him and then giggled.
Now, maybe I'm in the minority here, but she was obviously impaired and any decent guy (I imagine), even if he was super excited to have this chick fall all over him, should have just sat back, kept his hands to himself, and NOT taken advantage of the out-of-it girl.
Open-mouth boy asked her if she'd like to borrow his igadget so she could, "put some of your own music on it, then like, we could get together and you could give it back."
She giggled, said something I couldn't hear, slurring her words together.
He offered her some of his juice and she drank it.
He tried to impress her, asking her what music she liked besides rap (because she told him she didn't like rap and that he should listen to something else).
The whole thing was creepy and I wasn't the only person thinking so. The woman in front of me turned in her seat and raised her eyebrows at me. I just shrugged.
I hoped that he would get out first, but he didn't.
"You getting out at Geary?" he asked her.
"Clement, actually," she said.
They both got out together at the last stop.
I hope she made it home okay, and without him.
Is there anything any of us could have done in this situation? It definitely felt like an unsafe situation for her. Potentially.

Bus Report #470

2009-10-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

My 38 this morning was not very crowded, and it was quiet.
Except for the ogler, who stood up from his seat and went up to our driver, leaned over her shoulder and said something that I didn't hear, but I am sure it was something he wanted her to laugh at. I wouldn't have let him get that close. Especially if I was driving a huge bus. But our poor driver didn't deserve it.
Man. That ogler. He's a menace.

At Fillmore I waited for the 22 with one of the regulars, a nice older lady who must be a nurse or someone else in the medical field. She always wears pink scrubs. The bus came and I hung back for a minute so she could get on first. I sat behind a hulk of a man in a plaid shirt (plaid's back! Who else is excited?).
The ogler got on at the next stop. He got a prime seat in the front, perfect for stalking the unprepared older ladies on their way to work that he so loves.
A guy with a backpack, big headphones and dark sunglasses got on at McAllister and immediately started to open all the windows.
I was glad because the bus was stuffy, and I'd already opened the windows right near my seat.
He sat down, then jumped up and moved to a different seat, and opened more windows.
The ogler got up, shut a few of the windows, and sat back down.
Sunglasses man stood up and moved seats for a third time, opened another window.
The ogler shook his head and tried to engage two older ladies in conversation. Wisely, they ignored him.

Bus Report #469

2009-10-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I caught a 3 Jackson tonight, why not, the weather was good and I was in no hurry.
The Marina-type sitting in front of me took her igadget out of her bag and not-too-stealthily took a photo of an aging punk/leather man who was trying to loop his headphones through one of the buckles on his jacket. I couldn't figure out why she took the picture, and wondered what she would do with it.
The bus was almost empty by the time we skirted the park and pulled in to the Divisadero stop.
An elderly man got on. He held a wrinkled plastic bag in one hand and his cane in the other. He leaned heavily on his cane as he got in and sat down across from the driver. He had a black watch cap pulled down over his ears and a non-descript but slightly dirty winter coat on, and a plaid scarf.
His best accessory, though, was his smile: it was so wide it made his eyes crinkle.
He took a bright green apple out of his bag and tossed it in the air, caught it, then slowly stood up and hobbled over to the driver. He smiled even wider and handed the apple to the driver without a word. He sat back down and looked over at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

Bus Report #468

2009-10-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I waited for the bus with the usual early morning regulars. Our fedora-wearing driver pulled up and I got on.
We booked it down to Fillmore, getting there earlier than usual.
I waited in the dark with a couple of people, watched the lights come on further down Geary.
When the 22 came, I was glad to see Carmen sitting in her usual spot, a seat saved for me, just in case.
We caught up on the latest gossip. All is well in her world. I watched her fold her igadget into a case, then into another case, then into a drawstring bag, then into her backpack.
The ogler sat a few rows up from us, ogling some of the ladies that get on at McAllister. I felt bad for them, and hoped they would ignore him.
At Mission Street the exit-door-blocking postal workers got on and blocked the exit door.
Walking to work from the coffee shop, I passed the garage (open but silent), and kept going. For the first time in days, no one was sleeping under the overpass.

Bus Report #467

2009-10-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight, everyone on Muni was in a good mood. It was weird: People gave up their seats to elderly and disabled folks, no one minded when babies were crying, and the teenagers were more subdued than usual, and quiet.
A man with crutches got on and sat in one of the front seats. A few stops later, a blind man with a cane got on, and the man with the crutches slid over and guided the blind man into a seat. They shared a laugh, and it was nice.
There was a mom with a very flirty, adorable baby girl. The baby kept waving at everyone and at one point she toddled across the aisle to a woman who sat with her grade-school age daughter. The baby put her arms up and the woman lifted her onto her lap.
"Sorry about that," said the baby's mom, embarrassed.
"No, it's nothing," said the other woman. Meanwhile, the baby had climbed over to the daughter's lap and they were playing together. So cute.
A teenage girl in black clothes (including a sweatshirt that said: SENIORS on it) came and sat next to me. She had lots of eye makeup and a few facial piercings, and a huge beat-up backpack. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

Bus Report #466

2009-10-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

I headed home late last night, after my volunteer shift at the museum. The 38 was rerouted on Market Street because of the president's visit, so I walked down to catch it.
It was a mostly empty bus. the rest of the riders seemed tired, too, and ready to be home.
Two dorky hat-wearing guys who did not know each other ended up sitting next to each other. It made me laugh. I wondered if they thought it as funny as I did. Probably not.
A heavily tattooed man and his clean cut young friend sat in front of me, on their way to an AA or NA meeting. The clean cut young friend took a pocket size directory of local meetings out of his bag to consult it. "We're almost there," he told the tattooed man.
Behind me, a newly-arrived in San Francisco, pretty college-age Haitian girl talked quietly on the phone with her friend.
She had a lot going on: new school, new city, no job and needy housemates. I silently wished her luck.
Our bus sped down Market to Fifth. Our driver made a crazy, severe turn, so that our bus must have looked like the shape of the number 7 from above.
The tattooed man sniffed in the air. "Man," he said. "Smells like carne asada or something."
I looked down at the takeout container of beef and greens over noodles that I held on my lap.
I looked up.
"That's probably my dinner," I said. "I'm sorry if it smells."
"Nah," he said. "It smells good. What is it?"
"Beef and noodles," I replied. "So you were kind of right."
He and his clean cut friend smiled at me and went back to their chat.
"I'm taking some art classes, like painting," the tattooed man said. "They're great."
"Yeah, I'm gonna take some classes to be an EMT," said the clean cut man.
I got out at my stop and walked home through the fog. My dinner was still warm when I sat down to eat it.

Bus Report #465

2009-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

My 22 Fillmore this morning was crowded.
A sleepy, freshly showered couple sat a few rows ahead of me and to my left. The woman had a thick, oatmeal-colored sweater on and chin length brown hair. The man, in his late 20s, maybe, with Clark Kent glasses and a goatee, had two suitcases and a satchel with him.
I thought, I bet they're going to SFO, they'll get out at Mission and 16th, and then I turned my attention elsewhere and forgot about them for the rest of the ride.
At Mission, the man in the couple got out with his bags. The woman stayed in her seat. She sat huddled against the window.
She did not watch him go.
He stood out on the sidewalk with his bags and looked back at the bus. Was he looking for her?
He was.
She turned a little (but not enough to see him from where she was sitting) and I could see that she had tears running down her face. A tear rolled down her cheek and disappeared into the collar of her sweater.
She quickly turned back to her window.
He didn't move, stood completely still with one hand on his roller suitcase, the other hand clutching the strap of his bag.
He stared straight through the window, past the people in the aisle, past the postal worker blocking the door.
She didn't notice.
As we pulled away, he followed us with his eyes, until, I assume, we were out of his field of vision.

Bus Report #464

2009-10-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Silent and dark morning on Muni.
A woman at the bus stop, another regular, said, "I hate how dark it is these days."
I nodded, replied, "well, I bet we change the clocks soon, right?"
"Yes, I checked online," she told me. "We change them November 1."
The bus was crowded but I squeezed between a woman I barely noticed and a tall man playing with his phone and an igadget.
The man sitting across from me looked like a Homicide: Life on the Streets-era Kyle Secor, except for his white earbuds and his PDA. I spent a few moments thinking about this television favorite of mine, before pulling the signal cord and getting out at Fillmore.
There were three of us waiting for the bus and one man sleeping on the bench, an open sleeping bag tucked around his head and shoulders. Our bus came and we got in, and the bus rolled on, still quiet, still mostly empty.
At Church and Market a pair of fare inspectors got on. "Morning, folks," said the woman inspector, smiling. "Let's see your tickets."
I fumbled around in my bag for my Fast Pass, and flipped it in their direction.
We all had passes and transfers, so no one got fined. It was odd, but at that moment I had a feeling of pride, a feeling of "we're all in this together and we won". Everyone had paid their way, and these inspectors knew that. I don't know.
The feeling passed.
16th Street was quiet and for the most part still asleep.
The fare inspectors got out at Mission and 16th, after making sure everyone had a transfer or Fast Pass.
At my stop, my seatmate was nice enough to get up to let me out. I hopped out of the bus and walked the rest of the way to work.
Lots of broken glass on the sidewalk, and further on, under the freeway, some abandoned canvases amidst the used coffee cups and orphaned shoes.
One of the paintings was of a Picasso-esque woman sitting on the edge of a chair, patches of color behind her. She had dark hair and her legs were crossed. I stopped and looked at it for a minute. It was tossed behind the fence so I couldn't rescue it, but I would have liked to.

Bus Report #463

2009-10-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Weekend on Muni:
Lots of kids dressed up like Rainbow Brite for the Love Fest... tutus and beads everywhere, and knee socks, and tube tops, and glitter. Lots of glitter.

People loaded down with picnic blankets and baskets, headed to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. In the evening, they looked tired, a little dirty, but happy.

The cop who almost busted me for jaywalking on Friday, on my morning bus on Sunday. He looked at me like he recognized me, but I hoped not.

44 O'Shaughnessy driver stopping on a dime right in front of me at the 6th and Clement stop, even though there were hordes of pushy people trying to get on before me. Thanks, driver!

So that was the weekend. More events than I can count going on all over the city, more people than usual on the bus, and it was fun trying to guess where they were headed.

This afternoon I took an empty 10 Townsend downtown and transferred to the 38 at Fremont.
There was a tall man dressed all in black, with a black bag covered, seriously - covered - in 1 inch buttons from countless bands and concerts. He had a few buttons on his jacket, too, and DJ grade headphones attached to his Discman, and a CD with an unpronouncible name on it (maybe German?) in his hand.
I felt underbuttoned, since I only have 2 on my jacket lapel.

On the bus I zoned out, listening to music and staring out the window.
New flags on the Luz Hotel.
Lots of people outside Woerner's Liquors.
Nikolas got on at Van Ness and sat a few rows ahead of me.
It was chilly out when I got to my stop. I took a few deep breaths of the deliciously cool air and walked home, happy and anticipating fall.

Bus Report #462

2009-10-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Random things I've meant to post but keep forgetting.

As seen out the window of the 38L two weeks ago - I saw an older man, maybe in his 60s, probably homeless, dressed in army pants and a cowboy hat, carrying a seagull tucked under his arm.
A live seagull.
It was a double take moment. I turned my head so I could see him again as we pulled away. His seagull blinked, serenely, and the man kept walking towards Polk and Geary.

Church and Market, as the 22 turned the corner - It was early, I was half asleep, but I recognized the man standing in the bus stop and I know he saw/recognized me, too. When I first moved to San Francisco he was an acquaintance of mine through some friends I don't know anymore. Nice guy, friendly, drank a little too much, an extra in my life who I hadn't thought of in years. Last I'd heard of him he'd had some major open heart surgery and had moved back home to recuperate.
So when I saw him at the bus stop, and he saw me, I smiled and silently wished him well.

Bus Report #461

2009-09-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Children on Muni edition!

Last night on the 22, a mom and her little girl sat next to me. The little girl was maybe 3 or 4, with big brown eyes and a pink track suit. She had a quarter in her pocket and she kept taking it out to look at it, and then put it away.
"Guardala," her mother cautioned her.
The little girl looked up at a Day of the Dead poster up on the wall near the door.
"Mire, mami, una calavera y una vela," she said, pointing at the skull and candle on the poster. The mom nodded.

This afternoon a mom and her preschool-age son sat in front of me. This kid had gorgeous, thick, curly, honey-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. His mother had the same hair, cascading in curls down her back. She didn't pay much attention to her boy. He sat backwards in the seat and looked at me, while he puffed his cheeks out, exhaled, puffed, exhaled. He played with a gold ID bracelet on his tiny wrist.

When they got out at Mission, another mom and son sat in their seat. The baby was tiny, less than 6 months old for sure. He rested against his mom's shoulder, every now and then raising his wobbly head and looking around at his mom, his aunt, the bus, and the teenage boy sitting next to his mom. He looked so joyful and content, I couldn't help but smile.

Bus Report #460

2009-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a 44 O'Shaughnessy to the Sunset to go to the new(ish) farmer's market.
I waited in the bus stop at 6th and Clement, with an old lady, a woman with some sort of developmental disability and a strange young couple.
The boy in the couple (he could have been anywhere from 17-21 years old) sat on one of the bus shelter seats and his girlfriend, a pasty, heavyset girl with a huge purse, stood in the place where the payphone used to be.
The boy played with his phone while the girl tried to get his attention.
She tugged on her stretchy pink T-shirt so that a casual viewer could get an eye full (whether they wanted it or not) of her chest and armpits. She wore shiny black leggings with faux buttons at the ankles. Classy.
"After the movies, if we don't go out to eat, we can afford to come back next week and I'll buy you a fish and cook it up," she said.
He barely acknowledged her.
A car full of teens drove by and yelled something out the window.
"Were they yelling at me?" asked the boy.
"Nah. They were white people. The only people who would do that to you are Latins," she said, as though she was the expert. I thought, but you're a white person, girl, so what are you getting at?
The boy might have been Latino. But he wore a T-shirt with a huge Brazilian flag on it, so I guessed he was Brazilian, Brazilian-American, or something.
The bus arrived and everyone made a beeline for the front. A wheelchair passenger had to get on, so we were all waved to the back. I got on and sat by the door, watched the wheelchair passenger navigate his way to his place by the window. It looked difficult, since no one stood up to get out of his way, instead they said things like, "hope you can get by" and "can you make it?"
Very helpful, hey?
Two middle aged men got on at Geary and started swapping stories of DVDs they were going to buy and video games they liked to play. One man actually used the word 'definitive' when talking about some game.
His friend said, "Did you know the same screenwriter wrote the scripts for The Fugitive and for GI Jane?"
Who knew?
Another wheelchair passenger got on at Anza. Her chair was wider than the first passenger's chair, but still, no one made any move to get out of her way. She was nicer than I would be, in that situation. She carefully made sure not to run over their feet and positioned her chair in her spot with no help from the driver, who was actually pretty helpful to the both of them, making sure he knew their stops and asking them if they needed the seatbelts.
When we got to the park, a herd of tourists actually trying to get out at Lincoln got out at the De Young.
I hopped out of the bus at Irving and went to meet the Teacher's Pet for some farmer's market action.

After buying sacks full of groceries, we went to sit on a nice, shaded bench at the edge of the park across from the Shamrock.
We watched 71 after 71 arrive at the nearby bus stop, buses half empty. We couldn't believe it, having never seen such empty 71 buses, or so many so frequently.
A barefoot couple walked by. Cringe.

My 44 back home was the 'connected bus'. It didn't seem very connected... The screens in the bus that you can 'touch for real time information' didn't seem to be working.
The kids sitting in front of me wanted to get to Sharon Meadows but I think our well meaning driver might have directed them to the Polo Fields instead.

A young, tattooed man in a Minor Threat T-shirt, with a beat up skateboard next to him, was half asleep in the back of the bus.
Two minutes before we pulled in to the stop by Green Apple, a man sitting across from him said, "Travis, hey man, what's up?"
The tattooed man grinned. "How long you been sitting there, man?"
"Aw, a while, but I didn't want to wake you up," said his friend. "You been shredding today?"
"Yeah, its good weather for it, man," said the tattooed man.

Bus Report #459

2009-09-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight after work, I waited at the bus stop for a 19 Polk headed downtown. I passed the time chatting with my mom on the phone, and happened to mention that I needed to swing by the library before meeting S. for drinks in the Castro.
As the bus arrived, a woman I know from around the neighborhood (who was also waiting) said, "I couldn't help but overhear you. I'm going to the library myself, so if you don't have time to go I could take your book for you."
I thanked her for the offer but explained I had an hour and I was confident I would make it on time. Still, very nice of her to offer.
We got on the bus. I had braced myself for a crowded, smelly, loud bus but this one was almost the opposite.
It was not crowded at all and people were, for the most part, lost in their own worlds and quiet.
The man in front of me smelled a little bit like unwashed clothes and that sour body smell, but it wasn't terrible.
We got to the 8th Street stop in less than ten minutes, my fastest commute in that direction ever.
After dropping off my David Rakoff audiobook, I went back out to wait for an F Market.
I was happy to see Ramon also waiting at the F Market stop.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, as we hugged.
"Library," I said. "What about you?"
"I'm on my way home. I would have taken the 6, but now we can talk for a bit."
We caught up with each other, and when our F Market arrived (the creamsicle colored one! from Cleveland!) we got on and shared a seat near the back door.
His plaid shirt almost matched the creamsicle color, but I didn't mention it.
He got out a few stops later. It was great to see him, it's been a while.

Bus Report #458

2009-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, the 22 driver did it again.
My 38L pulled in to the stop and our driver honked his horn a few times to let the 22 driver know that a few of us were coming. The second I stepped out of the 38L, the 22 sailed past us. I could swear that the 22 driver was smiling.
I waited in the stop with one other person. The Cleanscape truck came up and the guys immediately started sweeping the bus stop, which was good, then they started pressure-cleaning it, which I really, really don't like. It just seems like a waste of water to me, plus the mist is everywhere and that can't be too clean, either. I looked at the other person waiting, a man, and shook my head.
"They always need to clean when I'm waiting," he said, grinning a little.
"I know," I said.
A 22 came a few minutes later. We stepped over the hose and got in.
I sat behind the catfish face man and the talking to himself man, by myself at first, until a slightly greasy looking guy got on at Church and Market and sat beside me.
At 16th and Mission I noticed how many people were sleeping in the plaza. There were mounds of blankets and sleeping bags scattered around, more than usual.

Last night I took a crowded 22 home.
A mom with a little boy and a baby got on at Dolores and the mom squeezed into a seat next to an older lady wearing a pretty linen dress and matching hat. The older lady was on her cell phone.
Suddenly, the older lady sort of jumped in her seat. "A baby just kicked me!" she told her friend on the phone. The mom apologized but the lady shook her head. "It's okay," she said.
A few stops later, a young man in a muscle shirt got on and sat near the little boy. The little kid was adorable, with long, wispy hair and a brown corduroy newsboy hat on.
The young man said, "you have a beautiful little girl."
The little boy started laughing. His mom said, "oh, he gets that a lot because of his hair, but he's a boy."
The young man was embarrassed. He said, "I had long hair as a kid, too."

At Oak Street, an elderly woman with a cane stood up and made her way to the back door. She lost her step, and the young man and a teenage girl caught her before she fell. Then the teenage girl gently held her arm and helped her out of the bus. The woman nodded and smiled at the girl and they went their separate ways.

Bus Report #457

2009-09-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Is it me?
After a long day at work and errands downtown I caught a 31 Balboa and rode it out to my neighborhood. The 31 is a strange bus. It rolls through some of the dodgiest blocks in town and the passenger demographic changes almost completely from block to block. Sometimes the bus goes by places I'd like to check out: Krim Kram's, Aunt Charlie's, the tea place near the Phoenix hotel. The park between, what? Gough and Laguna? Am I getting it right? Gussie's Chicken and Waffles and, further out on Balboa, places I've been to that I'd like to visit again, like Namu, Lucky Ocean Aquarium and Sushi Bistro.
But.
When I signal for my stop well ahead of the stop, and am standing by the door, and you slow down for my stop but then don't open the door for me, what's that about? I called up to the driver, "Um, I signaled for [my street]. I'd like to get out, please."
He ignored me, sped up to the next stop.
Asshole. I'd understand if the signaler hadn't worked, but it had, the signal sound loud and staticky.
A handful of us tumbled out the back door at the next stop. Thanks, 31 Balboa driver.

This morning made up for yesterday, though. A smooth ride on a 38 followed by an uneventful ride on the 22, with the tall-sitting driver as our chauffeur.
As I got out the bus, I saw the teenage boy I'd seen a few weeks ago at the Blood Center. He smiled at me and said, "hey, how's it going?"
"Great, thanks," I replied.

Bus Report #456

2009-09-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

For the third day in a row, the 22 driver signaled for us to run ahead to the next stop, instead of waiting for one more minute for the three of us (who had just catapulted out of a 38) to cross the street.
I put my foot down this time. Maybe he thinks it's funny, watching people sprint down Fillmore at 7 AM? Well, I wasn't going to entertain him today.
I waited at the stop with a few people, watching the Clean Team sweep the bus stop. The guy across the street in front of the Boom Boom Room hosed off the sidewalk, like most mornings.
The bus arrived, and it was the very polite, tall-sitting driver. He smiled at me when I said "good morning". I moved towards the back of the bus and saw Carmen, so at least we got to visit and commiserate about missing the earlier buses (the 33 for her, which she missed by seconds when she turned the corner on California St.).

Carmen got out at her stop and was replaced by a man with a very wide ass, so wide that I felt like I was being pushed off the seat, and I was on the inside of the seat! It was gross, and I couldn't stop thinking about it as we rolled down 16th Street. I kept trying to move so he wasn't touching me, but to no avail.
I got out at my stop and walked the rest of the way to work.