Muni & The Pre-People
it should come as no surprise to any of you that i am not really a savvy muni (that's sf code for "bus" for those of you who don't know) patron. i never had to take muni regularly before last year, and so on the rare occassions i would, i'd tend to get on going in the wrong direction, or get off a stop too late because i wouldn't know where i was.
i wasn't exactly born a "street person" you know?
anyway, i thought i understood muni etiquette pretty well, but realized this morning i still had it all wrong.
because here i've been, thinking that you get up and get dressed and get ready for work and then get on the bus. and by being on the bus, you are actually out in the world, interacting with people in some way.
apparently not.
apparently, being on the bus with others does not count as 'being out in the world.' apparently, you don't actually need to worry about what you're doing or how you look until you arrive at your destination.
before then -- before you get where you are going -- the people riding muni with you are just some sort of pre-people.
and this is why it's perfectly okay to do things like put your makeup on while riding. because where anything more than a touch-up might seem inappropriate in public, on muni with the pre-people full-scale, this-is-what-i-could-have-done-in-my-bathroom makeup applications are perfectly okay. sure, go ahead, PLUCK YOUR EYEBROWS.
and i'll just try and ignore you while listening to my iPod and knitting, like a good pre-person should.
i wasn't exactly born a "street person" you know?
anyway, i thought i understood muni etiquette pretty well, but realized this morning i still had it all wrong.
because here i've been, thinking that you get up and get dressed and get ready for work and then get on the bus. and by being on the bus, you are actually out in the world, interacting with people in some way.
apparently not.
apparently, being on the bus with others does not count as 'being out in the world.' apparently, you don't actually need to worry about what you're doing or how you look until you arrive at your destination.
before then -- before you get where you are going -- the people riding muni with you are just some sort of pre-people.
and this is why it's perfectly okay to do things like put your makeup on while riding. because where anything more than a touch-up might seem inappropriate in public, on muni with the pre-people full-scale, this-is-what-i-could-have-done-in-my-bathroom makeup applications are perfectly okay. sure, go ahead, PLUCK YOUR EYEBROWS.
and i'll just try and ignore you while listening to my iPod and knitting, like a good pre-person should.
As long as they don't show up in their PJs and get dressed on the ride - I think it is OK.
ReplyDeleteOh man, pre-people. I knew them in Chicago.The guys would wear ties untied, just hanging loose around their necks.Once, I was on the train and had to go to the restroom, but I could not go to the restroom, because there was a woman in the restroom BLOWDRYING HER HAIR.
ReplyDeleteTee hee. At least she wasn't plucking them at a restaurant table. Not that I've ever seen anyone doing that. Nuh-huh.
ReplyDelete