California public transportation SUCKS.
Today, I wrote out a nice, neat schedule of train times for Caltrain and Bart so I could get to San Francisco by 2pm and arrive home by 10pm. I got to Caltrain on time and bought my one-day pass...the train was supposed to arrive at 12:29pm, but it was 5 minutes late. Okay, no big deal. Got on and read for 45 minutes while it rumbled and clanked its way slowly to Millbrae. It arrived 10 minutes later than scheduled...still, not too bad for Caltrain. Bought my round-trip Bart ticket and got on the train. It left on time. After 3 stops, the announcer said there was some problem in downtown SF, so we would have to stand-by for a while. A man who had just stampeded his way onto the train a moment ago with his bike started cursing at the top of his voice. "F-CK THOSE ASSHOLES,WHAT THE F-CK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?" etc. etc. Okay...no problem...just keep reading my book, ignore the crazy man, things should be okay in a bit. After 15 minutes or so, the train restarted, and the man calmed down. Then we got to Daly City, and the announcer said that all trains were going out of service, because the problem in downtown SF had not been fixed. The angry man really had a fit then; I thought his ears were going to fall off the sides of his head, they were so red. He charged out and down the escalator yelling curses to the California transportation systems, and the rest of us followed him into the station. Everyone was crowded around a lady guard in her glass booth, clamoring to ask questions, and she kept impatiently trying to shoo us away. When I got to the front, I asked her what other alternatives there were to get to Civic Center, SF, and she said either take a taxi or take the bus. Just then, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said if I was going to Civic Center, I could follow her, since her destination was only 2 stops away from mine, and she knew the area well. She said we'd have to take the #28 bus, then transfer to a different street car, then transfer to the Muni BART. It sounded really confusing, so I just took her word for it and followed her to the bus stop.
She was an angel...probably in her late 40's, looked Vietnamese with dark skin and dark hair tied back. As the bus was pulling in, she realized I didn't have a bus ticket, so I ran back into the station and got one as quickly as possible. Pelting back, I saw her waiting at the doorway of the bus, to ensure I would make it in time. She guided me through the insane maze of buses (which took at least an additional hour), waiting for me every time we exited or boarded a new car to make sure I was okay. She stayed with me until her stop had arrived, and then asked me if I would be okay before she left. There are some people in this world who are just so, so nice.
Later in the afternoon, I was sitting in Le Boulange across from the park in downtown SF, people-watching with a friend. In the span of 10 minutes or so, we saw: a dog so covered with black dreadlocks that it looked like a walking mop; a woman in a bubble-gum pink mini-dress that looked like it belonged on a Barbie doll; and a man carrying a jacket-ful of multi-colored ukeleles, waving them in the faces of anyone who so much as made eye-contact with him. I think he was trying to sell them.
Oh...I've missed San Francisco...
At first I was going to cut dinner short to get to BART on time, but then my friend offered to drive me directly to the Caltrain station in Millbrae. This seemed like a good plan, giving us time to order dessert and take a walk, but then things started going wrong on the way back. I think my terrible sense of direction and habit of getting lost wherever I go is contagious...in any case, somehow we managed to get lost, circling around until finally we found the station. It didn't help that his GPS system kept turning off every time I touched it (??). I could see my train on the tracks, and just as we pulled into the parking lot, it zoomed away, leaving us in a trail of steam...it was so dramatic, like a movie scene. Stupid Caltrain...you're 5 minutes late when I get there early, and you're 2 minutes early when I get there on time.
My day had a happy ending though, because my friend drove me home even though he lives in SF, and I got to see a pretty sunset, purple flowering trees, and listen to a radio report about sea turtles on the way back. Like I said, some people are just so, so nice.
Anyways, the moral of the story is: California public transportation SUCKS. Avoid it at all costs.
