The N-Judah Chronicles

Kids in public these days are a mixed bag. If you get a couple of kids who are with Useless Parents, the kind that can't bear to teach their kids how to behave in public or act like parents, they're a true horror to be around.

Recently I had a nice dinner at a restaurant spoiled by two children (probably 7 and 10) running around the restaurant, screaming, crawling around and making life miserable for those of us who actually have to pay for our meals.

Of course, the parents couldn't be bothered and when some brave soul told them to make their kids knock it off, they respond with some pseudo-hipster babble about free spirits or something like that.

News flash, wannabe hipster faux parents: if I have to listen to your bleating kids ruin my meal, the only talk of "free spirits" I want to hear about are some free cocktails so I can get the ringing out of my ears from your little dears. Otherwise, you're just hurting America.

Nowadays that's more or less the standard. Most of these folks seem more concerned about their iPod than they are about their kids. It's more like the kids are just the latest "accessory," in an attempt to keep up with what "everyone else" is doing. My brother nicknames out of control kids like these "stereos" - loud, expensive accessories you show off to the world, but don't really care about.

Ok, now, rant said, it's time for something positive - when kids and their parent(s) or guardians are out in public and behave. It not only makes the rest our lives a little better, frankly it's better for the children too. (and won't someone PLEASE think about the children?)

Recently I had some experiences on the bus where the kids were so well behaved and the parents/guardians so obviously super duper responsible, I wish I coulda given all of 'em a medal, or something just to say "Thank you for being some of the last Americans who still believe in our country and are actually raising your kids, and not whining about how the state should do it for you."

The first was an older woman and what seemed to be her granddaughter who were sitting in the seniors section on a bus one Saturday. I remember I noticed how quiet this kid was, and when she talked to her grandma, she spoke calmly and happily as they were going to the library or something. But not once did this kid act like a brat or scream and yell, and no this kid was not having their creativity stifled by Society.

Instead grandma and kid were having a nice time and when they got off she insisted on thanking the driver and waved at everyone. I turned to my brother and said "Why can't they all be like that more often than not?"

The second was a kid and his dad who were going to the park. Now I could tell they do this a lot because the kid clearly liked the bus and knew all the stops. So much so that he would sit there politely but ask the people next to him where they were going, but not in a bratty, irritating way. Then he'd tell them EXACTLY how many stops they had before they should get off the bus.

Again, it was obvious he was just being a kid like, well, kids are prone to do. But did he act like a little jerk or scream his head off or throw a tantrum? NO! Instead Dad was acting like a Real Dad and not some hipster hippie doofus dork "dad" and clearly raised his kid to have fun but not have a scream that's like a kick in the teeth in public. I swear I wanted to walk up to this dude and tell him thanks on behalf of humanity, but that's just weird.

But the real prize goes to the 10 year old on the bus who had the misfortune of being next to not one, but TWO kids who were screaming up a storm about God Knows What on a very crowded bus. It was like listening to a cat being picked up by pliers, only not as pleasant. Everyone was going nuts and of course, Hipster Dumbass Parental Unit was doing not a thing.

Now, this is a sign of a kid who's obviously had to be responsible for others or something, because finally she made a "I can't take this anymore" face and finally said in a nice, but firm voice "WHY are you screaming so much?" The bus noise made it impossible to hear what she said next but she talked to them and damn if those kids didn't finally shut up, and were even smiling by the time the bus ride was up.

Again, it was time for a medal, a key to the city, a donation to the college fund, whatever. If nothing else the kid did more than the alleged parent did. But while I was thinking "Thank you GOD for this kid and her common sense approach" it was also a bit depressing to think that positive, constructive social behavior in public these days is so rare, we want to give people a medal for doing what all of us should be doing in the first place.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend checking out the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association website. They have all sorts of good information and some very in-depth studies on how to improve Muni. I've added a link on the link list to the right to their section on transit issues.

However, what was most interesting was a snipped of a statement on Muni made by SPUR which had some very pertinent points about Muni. You can read it in its entirety here, scanned in from a book on Muni entitled "The People's Railway: the History of the Municipal Railway of San Francisco" by Anthony Perles.

Here's a sample:

"Second, everyone must recognize that transit is an essential public service just like schools, streets, and fire protection. In this context, referring to a 'deficit' is nonsense; no transit system in the nation supports itself from the farebox. If you ever hear a politician refer begrudgingly to the 'Muni deficit,' he will have failed the test

Third, the Mayor and Supervisors must adopt a a strictly enforced 'transit first' policy. Even if Muni is fully budgeted and if management proves itself extremely capable, service will still be poor because of transit's inability to escape congestion caused by autos, double-parked trucks and construction. New legislation is needed to establish a transit street system, giving transit top priority in any conflict."

Now what's most interesting is that this was written in 1973. Yet you could make this (and other arguments SPUR made in 1973) today, and it would be as relevant to the ongoing Muni situation.

I think it is a chance to give SPUR its props for having some incredible foresight over 30 years ago. But it is also a time for us as citizens to ask why it is we let our elected officials get away with rhetoric and hot air, and why we as citizens feel it's ok to accept mediocrity, instead of the best. Remember, we can bitch about Muni and those doofus gummint folks, but in the end, they're our responsibility, and it's up to us to kick 'em in the butt until they get it right.

Otherwise I'll never be able to get home from Kennedy's on time!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While Muni makes its share of goofs, screw-ups, and whatnots, it's important to remember that sometimes the reason you're stuck waiting for Muni is not because of a bureaucratic foul-up, but because of the walking talking fecal matter known as Our Fellow Citizens.

Case in point: Today on the N-Judah inbound, the train came to a full stop at Carl and Cole at around 3pm. After a couple of minutes, the driver announced that he was unable to proceed becuase a car was parked in a red zone. The red zone is designated as such because the Muni cars need that space to be able to turn. Otherwise, they can't.

So, after some patient waiting by the many folks in the double car, people started to get pissed, 5 minutes became 10, and 10 became 20. It was clear Human Turd Boy who parked his car illegally wasn't coming back anytime soon. People were getting pissed.

And this was just on my car. Imagine the conga line of autos backed up on Carl St., not to mention the people at the next stop, waiting in the cold, windy weather. OR the people waiting at the stop after that. The domino effect is quick and merciless when these idiots block the way.

Now, at this point I should point out that no one blamed Muni or the driver - they knew exactly what was up and sat there or made other plans. Some got off the train in search of other means of transport. But I, being who I am, asked the driver to clearly deisgnate which car was the troublemaker and decided to engage in some vigilante justice.

Of course, when I got off the train I had no idea what I'd do, but it made me feel better, anyway.

I was going to leave a rude note, complete with all sorts of clever ways to say "you're a double f*cked retarded jackass" but alas, I was out of notepaper. Damn! Then I hit on the idea of keying the mofo's car. But I quickly remembered one of the Laws of the Universe - the minute Ido something like this, I get caught, unlike the tool that spraypainted my car in Venice Beach (but that's another story).

So while I decided to write down his license plate # and try and call in a tip to La Policia or whatever, another passenger was inquiring at local businesses to find the recalcitrant Turd Boy. He had no luck. He came up and said "Let's key yuppie boy's car!" and wrote something on the windshield in red pen that looked rather descriptive about Human Turd's parental lineage.

I tried calling La Policia but was told to "oprima el 2" and waited for like, forever.. And that's when Human Turd Boy (who turned out to be Human Turd Old Man) walked up and wondered why everyone at this point was glaring at him like he was Satan Incarnate and got away. Lucky bastard.

Oh how I wished we had a cop here like we did at 9th and Irving when the super cool SFPD patrolman who regularly patrols that intersectin on food moved the Big Ass Truck out of Muni's way a while back. (SFPD officer, whoever you are, you were our hero that day!)

I gave him the finger, out of tradition, as he sped off. But not before his BMW 325i silver station wagon left me the one piece of info I needed: his license plate number.

As he sped off, and everything returned to normal, sort of, I reflected on how this nasty incident did have one benefit. For a moment, it was one of those shared moments where everyone gets together and unites as one, with no racial, religious, political or other divisions amongst them.

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. than to see me and my fellow San Franciscans see each other as fellow travelers in the fight against Human Turd's injustice.

Anyway, if you're in San Francisco, and you see this loser's ride, with license plate 5DQF149 and it's a silver BMW 325i Station Wagon, be sure to leave him a note telling him what a piece of crap he is.

Do NOT trash his car - the crisis has passed and tempers have cooled and you could get in trouble. But you may wanna leave him a note telling him that karma's a bitch - and that he better be glad it wasn't "Bat day" at SBC Park. Otherwise, he might not have a cutesy BMW to tool around in.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Just when you though things couldn't suck enough, what with the delays, jacked up fares, and whatnot, now comes what is surely to be the official boning of Muni and the N-Judah starting next week - they're actually closing the downtown subway starting at 10 p.m..

Now, of course, they tell us it's a yearlong project to "make Muni better." And while hate to join the ranks of the knee jerk cynics, it's really hard for me to believe these folks can really do anything to make things better. They've already paid an incredible amount of money to the incoming Muni director, Nathaniel Ford, who not only gets paid, but even if he gets fired STILL GETS PAID FOR SEVERAL YEARS MORE. And they keep finding ways to avoid real funding solutions for Muni in favor of screwing the fare-paying customer.

Now this. And of course, they're great at flashing this update on the few stops that have NextMuni installed, but they don't really know what they're doing. Just remember - whenever you read "subway service replaced by bus service" you might as well read "reliability thrown out the window and a crowded ride on a jerky bus."

SFist, one of the few online outlets for the kind of news that matters, has kindly provided an unofficial map showing the area to have what little reliability and usefulness tossed out like a morning log. They've also provided some predictions and suggestions for the new year-plus state of affairs for downtown Muni.

Needless to say, that chance to take an extended work assignment out of town is starting to look good. Frankly I don't wanna be here for the total boning of my beloved N-Judah. The least Muni could do before this giant municipal screw job is buy us all dinner first. At least then we'd feel better in the morning, waiting for our "buses."

(Special Note: It's nice to see that some media outlets in this town can provide relevant commentary and notes to things that matter. Unlike the whiny, useless Bay Guardian, or the sophomoric and equally useless SF Weekly, at least SFist tries. And these guys aren't paid nearly as much as the community-college dropout writers at the big weeklies.)

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I read with some amusement (and some horror) at the Municide Blog's experiences with the 48. If you haven't already checked it out, it's got photos, annotations and a map. It's definitely a tale of urban woe.

What's funny is that my brother recently sent me a copy of a letter to Muni from 1930 that details the same thing. Here's a reprint of the letter's text:

Get this. I live on Jones and Union Streets, and when I want to get to work on time, I have to walk two blocks to Mason and get on the Market Street cable car, transfer at 5th and Market, in order to get to 8th and Brannan.

This morning I had a sore food, so I took a chance on the "E" car, which stops in front of our house. I left the house at 12 minutes to 8 and at 8 o'clock I was still standing there. I hopped down to Mason and just then three "E" cars rounded the corner, all in a bunch, and God knows a person can only use one at a a time. You can't tell me this just happens once in a while. It is the custom and anything else would be "once in a while." You sure have a lot of inspectors, writing figures in little books. It seems as if some of them were put to work running cars, there wold be better service, as all their inspecting doesn't seem to do any good, since conditions remain the same. I certainly am curious to know what all those figures are going to be used for, when they are finally accumulated.

When I take an "E" car and transfer to an "H", with less walking, it takes me 45 minutes to get to work. On the Market Street lines, I can get down in 25 minutes, so pick the seeds out of that.

Very Truly Yours,

MM

An interesting letter. Written on the letter are some notes indicating a possible answer as to why this had happened, owing to a delay in the "wholesale district" that day.

Anyway, a fun little piece of Muni history...certainly not all of it is bad, and some of it can be quite interesting and fun. But in light of Municide's recent post, as well as the slap back they got from Muni, I thought it might be fun to post nonetheless.

Muni Letter Photo scanned in from the book "Tours of Discovery"
by Anthony Perles

Posted by Greg Dewar at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh Muni.

SF Muni.

You had me at Christmas, doing exactly what you're paid to do....get me to where I want on time.

Then I took the 30 Stockton the other day with my brother after a fruitless search for San Jose Sharks memorabilia. We shoulda stayed at Kennedy's in North Beach for way more $2 Guinness than sitting on that infernal machine. Oh wait, that would assume we could have actually sat DOWN on said bus.

Ugh.

I won't bore you with details. All I can say is this....if you're wanting to do the right thing and NOT have a lot of $2 Guinness or 2 for 1 beers at Kennedys, DON'T rely on the 30 Stockton to take you away, ESPECIALLY on a rainy night.

Between the loud people, the inordinate amount of Loud Crazy Homeless Folk, the lurching of the bus as it tries to evade the double parkers up the street in Chinatown who illegally park, and the steamy goodness of a bus during rainy season, and oh did I mention the lumbering psychotics who have to get on the bus (like the guy who had to sniff the doors, the poles, and everything on the bloody bus before and during his trip??), you're looking at a world of pain.

I looked at my brother and said "And WHY did we leave the bar so early? We HAD to leave? Would it have KILLED us to have just one more Guiness? or Coke? or FUCKING ANYTHING BUT SITTING ON THIS GODDAMNED BUS???"

Well I didn't say it like that but we both realized we'd made a big mistake.

Now dont' get me wrong. I ain't no bigot, and I don't deny that society has many serious problems. Here's the thing. When I get on the bus and want to take a trip, paid for with taxes and a $45 bus pass, I don't want to think, contemplate or deal with said issues - I JUST WANT TO GET TO WHERE I WANT TO GO.

Having some raving lunatic who sniffs everything and who (literally I'm not making this up!!!) HUMPS the metalware on the bus doesn't make me "more sensitive to the issues", it makes me wanna pull out the Elephant Gun and start shooting.

Ok maybe not that, but if the liberals are wondering why Gavin Newsom got so many votes for "Care not Cash," and can't internalize that fact, here's a hint: just because we may be liberal doesn't mean we accept that Third World living is "OK" or "PC." It ain't cool for the mentally ill, and it ain't cool for us. Deal.

Eventually we just got off the bus in the pouring rain way way sooner than we were supposed to , just to get off the Express Train to Hell. Muni once again rolled snake eyes on the 30 Stockton, and if it weren't for the fact that walking to the F-Market was a fool's errand I'd suggest that I'd never take it again to get home.

But for a $2 Guinness, it's hard to walk away. Can you name one other bar in California, much less San Francisco, that offers such a deal?

Now you know why the 30 Stockton and Muni prevail, despite all the bitching.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)