MUNI Moments: An Occasional Series

During one of our class discussions about where to look for writing ideas, the topic of MUNI came up. MUNI is the bus system here in San Francisco. We rely on it for class field trips. Sometimes MUNI gets you where you want to go pretty fast, sometimes it doesn't. But either way, it's ripe with writing possibilities. Below are Room 2's first three "MUNI Moments" stories, all by Kimberly, age 9.


By Kimberly
MUNI Disaster

We were riding the number nine bus to my uncle’s house. I was sitting on my dad’s lap because I was 4 or 5. I felt like throwing up and I did. I cried and cried, and I kept on throwing up. I accidentally threw up on my dad’s shoe. Everybody on the bus stared at me, except the bus driver. He was focused on driving the bus. When I got off the bus I stopped throwing up. When I arrived at my uncle’s house he said, “good morning.” My uncle and aunt were all dressed up and I don’t know why. My sister and I said good morning to them. Later I learned it was my grandpa’s birthday and they were going to a restaurant.

The Bloody Man

My dad, sister and I rode the number one bus for a long time. We were on our way to Chinese School. When the bus arrived in Chinatown, we saw a man getting on the bus. He was a senior citizen. He tripped on the stairs, and tumbled down to the ground. People surrounded him but said nothing. A woman saw his head was bleeding. He walked up the street instead of riding the MUNI. My sister said, “It creeped me out.”

I said, “It didn’t creep me out” because I enjoy watching violent stuff like wrestling on TV. After Chinese school we saw blood on the sidewalk on the way back to the bus stop.

Busted

My dad and I were riding on the number one bus. My sister didn’t come because she was in summer school. We were going to the park. At the stop close to the Chinatown park a homeless man got on the bus. He didn’t pay the bus fare and took a seat. The driver told him to get off the bus but the homeless man said nothing and didn’t get off the bus. The bus driver called the cops and stopped the bus and made everyone wait until they came. The police arrested the homeless man. I was scared because I was four or five and I had a feeling I would be arrested in the future.

My sister thinks that MUNI should have a rule that says if you have money you should pay, but if you don’t have money you should get to ride for free. I think if you don’t have money you should walk. Too bad.



About the Author

My name is Kimberly. I am nine years old. I live in San Francisco with my mom, dad, sister, uncle and grandma. I like to watch WWE Smackdown on TV. I am good at art and I want to be an artist when I grow up. Someday I want to be good at four-square. My goal this year is to watch wrestling every weekend. I am a tomboy and I wonder why my sister is not. My biggest fear is knives. If I could have any super hero power I would choose the power to control all the wrestlers on TV. This is my first published book.