Muni Experience: A Surprising Glimpse into City Life

My Muni experience was pleasantly calm, an unexpected contrast to what I first expected it to be. I'm so used to boarding popular lines such as the 5 or the 38, both of which run through areas I'm widely familiar with. Inner Richmond and Downtown are predictably unpredictable, with loads of locals, students, visitors, and to be frank, homeless patrons that board freely because those lines drop you in popular, centralized areas. The 12 Folsom, starting at the beginning of Russian Hill all the way to the Mission seemed like a line strictly for individuals and families going to very specific locations, most likely their favorite places to shop or their homes. Notably, there were only Asian individuals that boarded the bus line, with the exception of maybe three men of Latino descent that came on for only a couple of stops. I thought this was significant and in line with the outside districts the line ran through. After riding through Russian Hill, we moved through a district that had shops, markets, and storefronts in which the signs were only in an Asian language I couldn't decipher. It was as if we went through a culturally divided area, highly intense, continued into the outskirts of the city that really didn't have a tone or mood at all, then back through an intensely historical, cultural district when we reached the Mission District. Overall, I thought the ride was so different than most Muni rides, with it not being crowded, loud, or paired with a strange odor that usually finds its way onto the bus. It was calm and comfortable throughout.