The 509 Train

Last night I was eating dinner with mom and dad waxing loquacious about how difficult it is to get a bus in the Sunset. I aksed questions like, "Why isn't there a BART bus on Noriega?" or "Why doesn't the 48 run all day?" I then came up with all sorts of outrageous reasons for my troubles. All of which had to do with the glut of parking the district has. My dad dad agreed with me saying that he used to have to catch the 5:09 bus in the morning every day and that it was never on time.

This is what I was talking about!

I have long wondered why I need to run out of the house at all hours for the bus in SF. Shoes untied, shirt unbuttoned etc. When I was young I generally didn't have a clue about when the bus was on its way but I ran nonetheless. Dean Scudder had me all but permanently in detention when I was a High Schooler.

Now with the internet I still for some reason have to run. This morning I was just about ready to leave the house when I looked at NextMuni.com and realized that I needed to go go go. So I went out side. I ran. I walked and then I ran again. At this point, having no smart phone and not knowing what time the train was scheduled to arrive I could only approximate when I needed to be there. I decided that it would be a good idea to look at my watch when I got on the train to ensure this didn't happen again.

During one of my brief walking stints on the way I saw a man throwing newspapers into people's front doors. I asked if I could buy one and he said, "Oh, uh, yes in one minute." Not having a minute I ran on.

Upon arriving at the stop I discovered to my relief that there were newspapers in the kiosk. However, I wasn't entirely certain if the train was coming. I waited and waited. In time I heard it approach and I realized that having scored a paper I would likely have an easy commute this morning. As I boarded the train I looked at my watch. It was 5:09.