You don't hold onto the bar in a Muni train you're going to be on your ass the first time they slam on the brakes. It's not so optional with the public transit in SF.

Unless, of course, you're packed in like sardines on the 30 Stockton. Then it's more like a mosh pit on wheels, and you can get your revenge on the poky-elbow little old ladies by stumbling in to them.

Not that I've ever done that, but I fantasize.

The woman who took my place at the law office has a purel bottle on her keychain. Seriously, it hangs there all handy and such. I need to find out where she got it.

Check out aisle at Target. I have one on my keychain, one on my purse and one attached to the diaper bag.

Target it is!!

I hate standing on CTA trains - I have suck a crappy sense of balance that I really got to hold onto something tight. Luckily, I have an opposite commute so I can usually find a seat. Metra trains are so much better than CTA trains in the jerking-to-a-stop department (as well as the room and smooth ride departments) that it's much less difficult to be standing.

Favoritest moment of my public transpo in SF: there was an obviouslt mentally disturbed and self-professed crack addict on the 30 Stockton screaming at people about manners. I loved the part where juliana said, "Fucking hippies."

I've seen the keychain bottles of Purell at Target, with all the travel and sample-size items.

I miss the subway. I love the subway in New York. Never really learned the busses, because even they seem to get caught in traffic sometimes. And it's much easier (for me) to disappear into a book with my headphones on underground.

In herds-of-clueless-people news, we were trying to get out of church Christmas Eve, and I almost had a meltdown. My dad was laughing, and said, "What, it reminds you of New York?" And I said, "Uh, no. In New York, everyone knows they have to KEEP MOVING!"

And it's much easier (for me) to disappear into a book with my headphones on underground.

I can't read on a CTA train without getting nauseous. Not a problem on Metra.

I'm still bitter that my last move and work's relocation makes Metra less convenient than before. I used to have a 25 minute commute from my apartment in Wicker Park (1700 block North) and downtown Evanston. Now it's usually an hour.

One of the few nice things about my lengthy Metro commute is that I'm almost guaranteed a seat. Of my choice, even, especially in the evenings.

I have a perverse love of NYC buses. They have certain very specific uses: crossing town above 57th Street, killing time in bad weather, etc. Now I like the bus to go from my office to the East Village. It may not actually save any time versus the subway, but it feels much more direct, since I'm not walking out of my way to get a train that doesn't really get me that close to where I'm going.

They're the sort of people that I want to give directions to with, "Get on the Capitol Beltway, and keep going until you reach the Capitol."

Also good: "If you miss your exit on the Beltway, just stay on; the exit will come around again."

Even commuting to Capitol East and/or Foggy Bottom in the height of tourist season wasn't as bad as going anywhere here. Today's event was me t-boning a shopping cart in the supermarket - I was coming down the cart escalator, and a woman had paused with her cart blocking the end. I had nowhere to go, and she wasn't listening to the yelling, being enraptured by the big TV ad.

Oh, and going into the parking garage for the store, a turn from a very busy street with no pull-out, I had to dodge a pedestrian who had randomly stopped in the middle of the driveway. It was close, as my car is almost too big for the driveway anyway.