Transportation Guilt Assuaged -- Day 134

Walk:  To bus, SFMOMA (Mark Bradford), Yuerba Buena Cultural Center, Embarcadero Cinema (Bernie)
Distance:4 Miles

 

Maybe it is the teenage boy car lover in me or my Midwestern driving background, but I'm not good about taking the bus. Today though was different.   I took one of the above captives which had been let out of its pen and was reminded how convenient and cost effective public transit can be.  It has been made at least 100% better by a couple of services where you can get on your iphone or computer and learn when the next bus is scheduled to arrive at the stop  you are planning to depart from. 

Today, I logged on at home, learned my bus which was 4 blocks away would be arriving in 9 minutes.  So I gathered my things - and even got out the front door in one trip instead of returning again for key, oops, bus pass, oops, iphone, oh, that's right, I have that, etc.  9 minutes later I got to my stop, and there was the bus.  What could be easier?  And if I'd driven -  and gone to the art show (Mark Bradford again before he leaves) and movie (Bernie - Jack Black just keeps getting better, and Matthew McConaughey was excellent as well.  Expected to exit laughing, but not so) - it would have cost me @$15! for parking, and there are street errands I wouldn't have run.

That said, it is always a cultural experience to ride Muni.  Since most of us live where the people around us look a bit like us, I think we're all undergoing a bit of culture shock.  Mostly though I think we do a good job of respecting each other - that excludes the people talking Really Loud on their cell phones and the ones who come in through the back door of the bus without paying.  I could live without the eating and coffee drinking (which is supposedly prohibited along with the back door entry), but can appreciate that some people have very tight schedules/multiple jobs and might not be able to eat anywere else. 

PS - Went out on my deck afer writing and the light was so dim I thought I must have lost track of time while posting.  Then realized Solar Eclipse!  Very noticable, and of course I tried to see more until I rememberd all those admonitons about not looking directly.