Reader Stan sent in this MUNI WTF moment to the N Judah Chronicles. There’s not a lot one can say, it speaks for itself
I was riding the N-Judah from the Outer Sunset to Powell Street on Tuesday evening. Everything was going well until about 7:15, when we entered the Van Ness station. The doors closed, again, but we sat there for a few minutes. The front door was reopened to let people on and off, including Muni fare inspectors. We sat in the station for about ten minutes. I was in a hurry, so I walked up to ask. Usually the drivers make announcements about what’s causing a delay, and how long we might be expected to wait, and what options we might have as riders.
The driver had sealed the partition where one usually remits their fare so no one could talk to her. I then stepped outside the train, and asked through the window of her compartment, “Excuse me, I see that there’s a train parked in the Civic Center station in front of us for a while. Do you think it would be better for me to take surface transportation?” She looked at me in indignation, and slammed the window in my face! I just stared at her for a moment, and walked away.
I looked back, and saw other people attempting to ask her the same thing, and she just sat there and ignored them. I went back to tell them what had transpired when I tried to find out what was going on, and they were shocked, but the prevailing sentiment was, “Why are we not surprised?”
Running late, I went up to the street and jumped on a bus on Market that would take me to 5th and Mission. At 7th and Mission, the driver stopped, and said, I’ll be right back, and went left the bus running while she went into a Subway sandwich shop. She returned with a soda. At least she had cut the line in the shop, pointing to the bus as she explained to the waiting customers. Her last stop was two blocks from there; she couldn’t get a drink on her own time? The bus was running! Anyone could’ve just jumped in the seat and taken off. Is Muni recruiting with signs that say, “Unemployable? Apply at Muni.”
Wow. And remember, they get paid no matter what. Don’t you wish you had a job like that?