Monday through Wednesday I commute to work on the 38 Geary line, the 38BX in the morning, and whatever bus I can catch in the evening (I’ve been leaving the office past 7 pm, so the 38L is not an option). Most of my bus rides have been crowded, and no matter how tired I am, I cannot ignore the humanity around me. For instance, yesterday, on my ride home, a drunk man, who was dressed professionally, got on beer (in bag) in hand, and tried to strike up a conversation with everyone in the back of the bus. To one woman, he remarked that her supervisor didn’t appreciate her; to the general audience, he stated that he got very talkative when drunk, to one man, he mis-judged and asked if he spoke Spanish, and to me, upon glancing at my obnoxiously oversized library mug, he congratulated me, with the “Harvard, wow, you did good. I might need to call you for help one day.”
Later, on the same bus ride home, I gave up my seat to a Chinese old lady. It made me sad though, because if I didn’t have a seat, I’m not sure if the other able-bodied adults would have sacrificed their seat.
On this morning’s bus, I stood near a man, who had the appearance of an alcoholic (or former junkie) in his forties. He scratched lottery tickets on his portfolio, then, he would furiously attempt to wipe all of the scrapings off of its surface. His annoyance reached the point, where he stood up and tried to shake all of the flakes off of his clothes.
Many people have told me that the 38 Geary is the most used transit line in the country. With it, you never know what you are going to get.
You know, I actually kind of miss commuting by public transport, precisely because I find this sort of thing fascinating.
I’ve always had an odd fondness for the crowdedness of urban life, probably because I was born in Shanghai. I like crowded buses, I like crowded streets, and I like grafitti. I LOVE the downtown skyline at night. And I even like the whole surrounded-by-people-but-lonlier-than-ever feeling in a way.. it’s sort of romantic in its own sort of goth way I guess.
You should check out the work of old time comic artist Will Eisner some time. He really captures the clothes-lines-strung-across-apartments feel of urban living.
I wanted to clarify about the post. I think my tone is misleading, because it sounds negative. But, I love all of the sights and smells of the city, even in its griminess. I love the randomness of walking through the streets. I love SF, in all of its diversity.
Reminds me of one reason why London’s Chinatown just doesn’t seem right: It doesn’t smell like fish! 🙂