Muni: Tale #1

Today's post is all about our beloved MUNI. With new bus schedules, unhappy drivers, single fares being raised, you know something's bound to happen to make MUNI not the ever-lovable ride it used to be. Yesterday morning, I had to wait almost 50 minutes for a 43 bus. All I wanted to do was go north about 9 blocks so that I could then go east. Simple, right? No. After waiting for the bus, which is supposed to magically appear every 12-15 minutes, for 40 minutes, I call 673-MUNI. It's even programmed into my phone for these "must get to work TODAY" occasions. After listening to the "You're on hold" message in English, Spanish, Cantonese, and gibberish, I get a brisk woman who informs me that five 43 drivers called in sick today. OK, so why didn't you (MUNI, not the info line woman) replace them? Apparently, MUNI doesn't replace drivers, they just abandon riders on street corners filled with fog and Starbucks. Grrr. I asked if I could charge my cab ride to them, and she hung up on me. Hmpfh. Once the 43 came, it was so packed that the driver could only fit 5 of the 8 people (the other 18 had either started to walk, hopped on some other bus line, slit their wrists, or grabbed cabs) on the bus. I felt so safe standing in the front stairwell of the bus smushed against some woman balancing two low-fat half-fat mocha frappa-whatevers and an elderly man with two backpacks and a walker. Had we swerved, I could have been tossed from the moving vehicle covered in commercialized low-fat high sugared iced coffee beverages and disappeared down some rolling hill for eternity and a half. But let's not cry over spilled milk. The positive thing about this whole experience is that I got to work, technically 30 minutes late (as I'm normally early anyway), and I was still the 2nd person out of 11 to arrive. Bonus.