The Sisters of Charity

Some groups of non-SFMTA employees get to ride for free. Police, patrol special police, auxiliary police reserve, peace officers, and firefighters may ride for free if in full uniform after showing proper identification. The key phrase being, showing proper identification. I guess bus drivers, bartenders or bouncers are best versed in excuses offered as to why proper ID is so hard to produce.

Happy is the day when a uniform or costume precludes an ID. The lively students boarding by USF are easy to spot on the 21, 31, and 33, even if they don’t show their student ID. University of San Francisco and the Academy of Art are two schools that have their Muni pass built-in to their student ID. Like the Sisters of Charity, they stand out, especially at the beginning of the semester when they are riding transit for the first time. 

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are also clear to see from a block away during a special event such as the Folsom Street Fair, or the Castro Street Fair. White-masked and dutifully festooned with a unique collage of makeup, jewelry, and costume, I enjoy according these Sisters a free ride as allowed by the nuns of the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church!

It gets interesting when a fire fighter, highway patrolman, or police officer enters at the front and I have difficulty in knowing if they are actually an on-duty civil servant, or in costume for a party or contest!  We have such a density of artists in this city and costumes are no exception to the attention to detail that separates reality from fantasy!

Volunteers for crowd control and security during a parade or street fair are also welcomed to pass by the fare box as we migrate the masses to and from downtown or Golden Gate Park.  The cast of characters from Bay to Breakers, Santa Sunday, or other such costume event parties make for never a dull day behind the wheel of a bus in San Francisco. When the Wheel of Fortune and the Wheel of a Bus become one in the same in conscious energy, I have achieved my Zen in driving Muni! 

Just as important are also those in the city for the first time, seeking assistance with direction to get the help they need in being able to survive here. After a while, it can become intuitive to know where people need to go based upon repetition of request and the hand held note with an address of the building they need to get to. 

Humility and the aspect of remembering what it was like when I was new to San Francisco helps keep me on the right side of Charity as a Transit Operator in the City by the Bay. 

Today the Super Bowl is not being hosted here. Our team is not going to be on the field in competition. Traffic is light. Everyone is from in town. Today is a day when we can feel as though we are home and go about our routine as a native sons or daughters. The Sisters of Charity, the outreach workers and drug and substance abuse counselors are the heroes on the bus. 

The happy road of destiny can be found inside a bus carrying service workers to their place of duty in finding solutions for those who are lost and in need. God bless a sanctuary city such as here in San Francisco.