I’m riding downtown on the bus, one of those double-stretch ones, and I’m sitting way in the back when I start hearing yelling. I look up and this big crazy black dude is screaming at the chinese bus driver and calling him all sorts of names. I can’t quite make out what the guy is yelling about as the only word I keep on hearing is the f word (f, as in fegelah, not as in f you).

Normally, these kind of situations are a little fun to observe as everyone kind of sits there pretending nothing is going on while all while getting more and more tense. This time wasn’t that fun. The dude was big and he was angry and he was going off and the bus driver was just sitting there with that stoic look on his face, the kind in which the person is trying to show they’re not upset but really are.

When the bus pulled up to it’s next stop, half the bus got off and I’m pretty sure half the bus didn’t need to get off as it wasn’t that major of a stop. In fact, people moved so quickly and with such an edge to it that it could only be that everyone wanted off. The worst part is that everyone leaving only incited the guy. As the bus pulled away, I saw the crazy guy stand up, arms waving, and start entering the driver’s personal space, thus probably making everyone who stayed wish they got off the bus.

Now while I often complain about MUNI or the MUNI union, I don’t with the drivers because whatever goes wrong isn’t usually their fault. If the bus breaks down or is late because of traffic, it’s not because of them. The main reason why I don’t is because every once in awhile some driver has to deal with something like that and I feel really bad for them. The driver was some small Asian dude. There’s no way in hell he’s going to be able to boss some big angry crazy guy. If I was that driver, I’d do the exact same thing he was doing – keep my hands on the wheel, look straight ahead, and pray to whomever that the guy gets off and pronto.