Sneak

Being poor can make a person desperate. Here in San Francisco, when you pay the $1.50 to get on a bus, the bus driver gives you a bus pass good for two to three hours. About a month ago, I noticed they were giving out longer bus passes. Ones that were good for about five hours. Not all the bus drivers, just some, on certain routes, at certain times of the day. I couldn't figure out any pattern to when they do it. Just figured it was an effort to help people out in this horrible economy.

I greatly appreciate when they do this, because it always makes my heart sink when I have to pay $1.50 to get to Trader Joe's and then another $1.50 to get home.

These bus passes all look pretty much the same each day; the only difference is the time they're good until. Date on top in big print, time the pass is good until in smaller print on the bottom. There are Muni cops who get on the buses every so often and ask each person to show their bus pass.

One night, on the way home from Golden Boy and Crazy Girl's house, the Muni cops were checking bus passes, and I only had ten minutes left on mine. This particular Muni cop must have had a quota, because his eyes actually lit up when he saw my bus pass. As his hand went to his ticket pad, I whipped out both my watch and cell phone to prove it was not yet 10 p.m. yet.

When a bus driver discovers someone sneaking on the bus they just kick them off. But if a Muni cop discovers someone who's snuck on, or is there past the time their bus pass allots, they are ticketed.

In the last few months, I've sadly gotten in the habit of umm... riding the bus for free. If I have a bus pass from earlier in the day, I'll just fold it in half so the date shows and flash that at the bus driver as I step on the bus. It always works. Always.

On Friday night I was waiting for a bus in the Castro when my father called my cell phone. My bus arrived and right when I was about to say goodbye to my father he said my mother wanted to talk to me. So with cell phone in the left hand and folded (and expired) bus pass in the right, I boarded the bus and started walking towards a seat.

"Hey!"
I turned back towards the bus driver, mentally looking through my wallet to see if I had $1.50, fully prepared to act like I hadn't realized my bus pass had expired a half hour earlier.
"Please move your finger so I can see the date," the driver said to me.
My mother kept talking as I slid my finger off the date. The driver nodded, thanked me, and proceeded to kick off an Asian boy who was trying to sneak on behind me.