Number two took place at Market and Montgomery. He sold the guy in scrubs a pass for a dollar. Scrubs guy kept his earphones in and didn't say anything. He did give the pirate a head nod after the exchange though.
I'm just so curious about this guy. Has he ever been busted? What's his deal? Is this profitable? Maybe one of these days I can line up an interview.
Until then, stay tuned. I promise to be back on track soon. I sort of took a summer hiatus and just never came off of it. It happens.
Taking a break and gearing up.
Yellow bag man checks out one of many ever present Sarah Marshall ads.
No joke, a whole store full. Stock up!
Pretty lofty statement.
A Walgreens worth mentioning.
Taking MUNI to the game!
This is the kind of old lady I want to be.
I imagine she was headed to Dolores Park. Such a good day for frisbee.
What does it say?
Everybody on!
Twin Peaks. Remember this, it will come up later.
We pass through a nice area of houses, getting into West Portal. Compared to most places in the city they look like mansions with front yards, long driveways, and big windows.
So very stylish.To my right I see the movie theater. I was there once to see “The Science of Sleep.” I don’t remember much about the theater except that there were lots of couples and the theater was small.
Time: 12:41 p.m.
Stop: West Portal Station
We ease into the station.
Cher, the beer-devil and the oranges guy. Enjoy fame.
The train starts to move and I notice the route sign change from “K-Ingleside” to “T-Third.” We are racing underground.
Time: 12:43 p.m.
Stop: Forest Hill Station
I look at the older man across from me. He is reading a paperback with a Borders sticker still attached. I can’t see what it is but I’m guessing some sort of guide book. He has a bag of oranges at his feet. I hope they don’t go rolling. That would be terrible.
Would you trust this bag?
There aren’t many people on the train and for the most part it is very quiet.
Time: 12:47 p.m.
Stop: Castro Station
We pull into the station and I notice lots of ads, namely the ones for the Sarah Marshall movie and for meth addiction. In the Sarah Marshall ad, someone replaced the “T” with a “B” causing it to read “You do look faB in those jeans Sarah Marshall.” I thought it was funny. That movie has the most ridiculous amount of advertising around the city. I feel personally attacked by the visual pollution that is the Judd Apatow Empire. Regarding the meth ads, the one ad I keep seeing has a guy who looks sort of like Ryan Gosling. I am curious about their effectiveness, but I guess they’re probably better than this.
Lots of people get on but the person that catches my eye is a man wearing head to toe black and red workout gear. He is wearing red Puma's and sits down next to the oranges guy.
The puma might jump off the shoe. Imagine if that happened. Chaos!
Time: 12:49 p.m.
Stop:
A boy who looks like a lumberjack gets on and stands in the doorway. After 40 minutes of having my own seat, a 50-something man with a few grocery bags gets on and sits next to me. I’m kind of annoyed.
Time: 12:51 p.m.
Stop: Van Ness Station
Lots of people get on at Van Ness, including an older man in a wheel chair. He gets into the train rolling backwards, which seems difficult because no one is moving from their spot. I start looking around and wondering where the wheelchair seats are. I guess there aren’t any, but that seems like a major hassle to the wheelchair-bound. (Note: I checked MUNI’s website and it does not make reference to special wheelchair areas on the trains. The only mention is in regards to boarding and exiting.)
On the back of the wheelchair, he has a lime green tote bag advertising a Baptist church.
I wonder what's inside.
The train continues on. Even though the train is full, it is still pretty quiet. At
My seat partner starts talking to wheelchair man, presumably about his bag. “I remember Pastor Hughes!” The two talk about different church pastors for about a minute before wheelchair man says he needs to get off.
Time: 12:57 p.m.
Stop:
Maneuvering the wheelchair is a problem. “Excuse me, excuse me.” Despite his repeated attempts to disembark, no one moves. Seriously? Finally he rolls out.
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Stop: Embarcadero Station Tunnel
It’s stop and go in the tunnel and I can hear the under-rails of the train squeaking and lurching. They need some oil. I turn my head around to see what’s going on in the second car and instead I make direct eye contact with the guy behind me. It was unexpected and kind of freaks me out. I look at the window instead. Someone scratched lines into the glass. So obnoxious.
We finally exit the tunnel and stop at Folsom Street. I look up and see the
The picture that started the adventure...
“Are you writing down the camera settings in your notebook?”
I am completely caught off guard. “Oh, no. I have a blog where I write about MUNI adventures and the pictures are for that. I’m on an adventure right now.”
Seat partner starts laughing, “Oh! I thought I you were a photographer and you were writing down the settings!”
“Oh, yeah, no.”
“I’m a photographer myself. I take pictures on MUNI, too.” He pulls out some developed 4 x 6’s and shows them to me. It’s been so long since I’ve held an actual photo; it’s such a weird feeling. He has pictures he took on the streetcar. Seat partner points out his favorites, “I like this one because I like this guy’s expression.”
“Yeah, that’s a good one,” I say. In the picture, there’s an old Asian man standing on the platform looking determined. He’s in focus and everyone behind him is kind of blurry and rushing. He shows me another one he likes; it is of a baby making a silly face.
“Yeah, those are really nice. I like how you captured their expressions.” I look out the window. We’re passing Fourth and King. I haven’t written anything down since we started talking. I feel stressed about this interaction breaking up my normal routine.
“I take pictures for churches, too.”
I feel baffled for a second and then a million questions rush to mind. Wait, like you get paid to take pictures? Or you take them for church websites? Instead, I blurt out, “What…what does that mean?”
“I take pictures for churches,” he repeats matter-of-factly. I wonder if this is a simple concept and I’m just being slow.
He pulls out his camera and hands it to me. “Here, look.”
He explains how this morning he went to a church meeting and took pictures of the meeting and the people. I flip though images of prayers hung up on walls, children playing and adults talking. I hand him back his camera and say, “Oh, these are cool. What are you going to do with them?”
He intends to print them out and enlarge the ones of the prayers. Seat partner starts asking me questions about photography terms. Have I heard of ASA? Do I know what it is? My mind feels bombarded as I try to recall all the information I tried to understand from video and photo classes. I come clean and admit, “I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with shutter speed or exposure? I get kind of confused and overwhelmed with that stuff. I usually shoot on auto; it’s just easier that way.”
He admits that he, too, isn’t completely proficient in photo-speak, but bought his Konica to practice. He’s saving up for a Nikon. “Oh yeah! My dad has one, they’re really nice. They take great pictures.” I look out the window again; we’re going through the Dogpatch. They’re doing so much construction down here.
We reach a lull in the conversation. I mistakenly think I can continue documenting the exterior environment of the adventure when seat partner starts talking again. (Note: At the time, I thought our interaction was a disturbance to my routine of documentation. Now, as I write this, I am realizing that this conversation is just as, if not more, legitimate as looking at street signs and the world outside of the MUNI train.)
He tells me how black churches have dynasties of church leaders and how those leaders are now getting older, changing the dynamic of the church experience and the makeup of the congregations. He is passionate about recruiting younger church leaders. At one point, seat partner wonders about the dynamic in other religions and says, “I don’t know about white churches…” and then looks at me as if he’s said something wrong. “Oh, no, I understand,” I say. It struck me as funny. It was almost as if he seemed apologetic for not knowing the politics of other race’s churches.
I glance outside again. I think we’re past the Dogpatch and getting into the tip of Bayview. (Note: Upon further inspection, it seems that this area has gone unnamed. It’s below the Dogpatch, but to side of Potrero Hill and above Bayview. Maybe it’s just called
And me.
I would like to see this organ.
Twin Peaks, as seen from Hunter's Point.
Any guesses on what it says beneath towing?
About the only time I've seen palm trees in San Francisco.
End of the line, folks.
First Stop: Green Division Yard
Ooooh, the J-Church!
Time: 12:01 p.m.
Stop: San Jose & Randall
The purple haired Glamour Grandma gets off slowly. I’m not sure who gets on, I’m caught up looking at the beautiful skyline of the city. We turn at 30th and now we’re on 30th and Dolores. We’re moving so quickly. My phone starts ringing and I feel stressed. I ignore my own rule and answer it. Ok, no more answering the phone. We pass through the area of
Time: 12:03 p.m.
Stop: Church & 30th
A lot of white, hip looking people and couples get on board. I’m overwhelmed by colorful skinny jeans, expensive shoes and jackets with careful detailing. I feel let down by the J-Church. You move so fast and your riders are so boring!
Time: 12:05 p.m.
Stop: Church & 27th
Time: 12:06 p.m.
Stop: Clipper & Noe
“It seems like it.”
Time: 12:08 p.m.
Stop: Church & 24th
Patrick is still throwing a fit. Seriously, Patrick? That was like two minutes ago. GET OVER IT. Patrick’s daddy and Family of Four Dad start talking about Irish baby names. Family of Four Dad tells Patrick’s daddy that his oldest daughter just had a third child and named her Rona. Her son is named Kieran. “Good, strong Irish names!” Patrick’s daddy is impressed. He has an Irish accent. Patrick’s daddy introduces himself to Family of Four Dad as “Patrick Kelly.” Family of Four Dad laughs and says, “I’m Terry Flynn! Nice to meet you.” Terry and his wife (Mom the Spy) are visiting from
Time: 12:11 p.m.
Stop:
Best outfit EVER.
We start passing through Dolores Park. It is mostly empty except for a few dogs and their owners. There’s a pickup basketball game happening and I see more people in green running to catch the train.
The best type of day to be at D-Park.
Time: 12:14 p.m.
Stop: Church & 18th
An Aside: I like to collect different things in my mind. It's sort of a recognition of patterns that I see. Most recent mental collections include people with canes (which made me wonder if polio is making a comeback,) people with partly burned-off faces (which makes me a) sad and b) think of this,) and dogs with shaved bodies but furry legs that look like legwarmers (Example.) Today I will collect ambiguous-looking people. Count so far: Two.
Time: 12:18 p.m.
Stop: Church & Market
We pass the big Safeway. I try to take a picture and while trying to juggle my notebook, bag, camera and pen, I end up writing all over my sweater. Ugh.
We stop at Church and Duboce. The girl-ish looking boy gets up and is replaced by an older man-ish looking woman. Amazing. Count: Three. She adjusts her baseball cap and fixes her really cool earphones. They are blue and yellow with a blue and yellow striped cord. She opens a book, “The King Must Die.”
The Dolores Park Girls and the back of Mom the Spy's head.
Time: 12:20 p.m.
Stop: Inside the MUNI Underground Tunnel
“Y’all wanna hear this, dontcha?” Without waiting for a response, out of nowhere he pulls out a boom box. Really though, where was that hiding?
The driver announces, “Van Ness Station.”
Boyfriend gets up and as the train pulls to a stop he bumps into Toothless who yells, “DON’T TOUCH ME! DO NOT TOUCH ME. What is wrong with you, man? Bobby Brown is part of my family, you should KNOW better!” Boyfriend looks thoroughly confused and just stands there with his head cocked. Toothless just shakes his head.
The doors open and close, people get on and off. We start moving again.
Time: 12:24 p.m.
Stop: Civic Center Station
We finally get to
I say, “Yeah, people get pretty excited about St. Patrick’s Day.”
She shakes her head.
Patrick Kelly starts giving little Patrick and older sister Mimi directions. “We’re going to get off at the next stop. You need to get in the stroller.” Mimi, who has the face of a Kewpie doll says, “The next one, Daddy?”
Patrick, in a calmer moment.
Patrick, Patrick and Mimi make it out in a more organized fashion than they entered. The man-ish woman starts talking to me again. “It’s a long day of being Irish.”
“Yeah, very long day.”
“A long day of wearing green. I usually try to avoid this stuff. All the colorful people.”
“Yeah, well, it’s hard to avoid, you know. The city is always pretty crazy.”
She sighs. “Why can’t they celebrate on the 17th?”
I spare her the official Church explanation of not indulging during Holy Week and say, “Some people just like to get wasted and wear green as much as they can.” I wonder if she thinks it’s weird that I’m talking to her and writing, simultaneously.
Time: 12:27 p.m.
Stop:
The doors open and she exits. Her absolute sobriety and sanity is probably the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. I guess that maybe it’s weird when “crazy” starts seeming “normal” and “normal” starts seeming like a big joke.
I see The Ramones walking through the station. One guy is wearing a green track jacket that reads, “World Class Pub Champion.” He is carrying a 24-pack of Guinness. Of course.
The doors close, the train starts moving. The Crayola's and I are about the only ones left.
Crayon people, ready for the rain.
Time: 12:30
Last Stop: Embarcadero Station
Total Time: 38 minutes (approx.)
How I got there: 5 to Civic Center BART, off at Balboa Park Station
Where can you see more? HERE
