Riding public transporation in the morning is usually a quiet, somber ride with everyone hiding behind their newspapers, furiously typing on their Blackberrys, sleeping, or staring into space with their iPods on. However, there are two trains that I can take to the BART station and they each give off a different “vibe”. First there’s the N-Train, which starts just down the street and usually carries a bunch of people in suits or scrubs on their way to the Financial District or UCSF Medical Center. The second is the KT-Train, which starts in the ghetto, goes through the Financial District, and then ends in the ghetto on the other side of town and usually transports people from the projects. It’s also very crowded, often littered, tagged all over, and just plain sucks.

Anyway, I’ve somehow managed to catch the same 7:40 KT-Train every day this week, which has made my morning commute a little more of a pain in the butt. However, there has been a silver lining in this. The driver of this particular train is someone worth writing about. Typically on any of the trains, the driver will usually announce the next stop. For example, “next stop, Folsom”. It’s helpful, brief, and impersonal. It’s good. Well, this particular driver has come from a different planet. It’s like he’s at Disneyland or something because he talks to us like we’re VIPs on a tour of San Francisco. Today, in his heavy Hispanic (I think) accent, he said, “The next stop is Embarcadero Station. Thank you for riding the KT line. I hope you have a wonderful, beautiful, fan-TAstic day and I will see you tomorrow again on the KT line at the same time on the same train. Remember that Muuuuni loves you and I love you. Thank you for being such good passengers and don’t forget you belongings.” Haha. I can’t help but smile. In fact, even some of the thugs couldn’t help give a chuckle or give a confused look to the guy standing in front of him. He’s done this every day this week, which makes me think that Mr. Muni is making somewhat of an impact in his seemingly mundane job. If he can make a sleepy thug smile, he’s doing a good job. Keep it up, Mr. Muni.