polk sheet

During the morning commute, bus riders sit in sleepy silence, coffees and Blackberries in hand, white headphones in ears. But on the way home from work, they actually acknowledge each other, sometimes sharing what I call a ‘MUNI moment.’

Yesterday, I had one of these moments – a few minutes, really. As my 41 bus arrived, an older woman, probably 65, ran towards me, literally shoving me off the sidewalk. Ow! She continued running until she weaseled her way into the bus’s rear door, but not before she feistily shoved three others. We all shared laughs over our bafflement, while telling tales of other MUNI etiquette faux-pas. Then the woman, shown here, stepped down to exit the bus, and the doors did not open. “Push,” said one of my new bus buddies. “You know how to do that, don’t you?”